USA07 August, 20262 min read
14-Year-Old Shooter Kills Grandparents, Then Five Teachers at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
A 14-year-old killed his two grandparents at their Nonthaburi home. He then killed five teachers at Debsirin Nonthaburi School.
Thailand shooting, US context
A 14-year-old student opened fire at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province on Friday, Aug. 7 after killing his grandparents at home, and the attack left five teachers dead and brought the death toll to eight including the suspected shooter.
Reuters said the boy shot his grandparents dead at dawn on Friday, and by noon bodies lay strewn at the 14-year-old's school with five more dead and 23 wounded before he turned the gun on himself.
The People report said the incident occurred on Friday, Aug. 7 at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, and it said Thailand’s Ministry of Health reported 22 people had been hospitalized following the incident.
The Washington Post said the shooter killed five teachers and staff and that 23 people were wounded in the attack, with nine in critical condition, while also describing the incident as one of Thailand’s deadliest school shootings in years.
Voices, numbers diverge
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters he would introduce Ask The Post AIDive deeper Thailand boasts the highest civilian gun ownership rate in Southeast Asia, with around 15 guns per 100 people, according to a 2017 estimate from the Small Arms Survey, as the shooting’s casualty figures continued to vary across outlets. People reported that a 14-year-old boy is reported to have killed his grandparents at home before heading to the school just after 10 a.m. local time, and it said the BBC had since reported that five victims, all of them teachers, had been killed at the school.
Reuters quoted Thai police official Trairong Piwpan’s account through the attack timeline, including that the boy killed his elderly relatives at around 5 a.m. local time (2200 GMT Thursday) and that the firearm and the bullets belonged to the grandfather. Al Jazeera said police revised the death toll to five at the school and reported that at least 23 people were injured, while also stating the attacker fired at least 26 bullets and was found with 34 additional ammunition rounds.
Aftermath and what’s at risk
In the immediate aftermath, Thailand’s prime minister offered condolences and said he had ordered relevant officials to take care of the victims, while CBS News reported that Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong pledged to provide mental health assistance to students and ramp up security measures at educational institutions. Reuters said emergency worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, 47, told Reuters that his team treated students with wounds to the back, chest and arms and that they could not rush inside while they were evaluating the sort of weapons he had.
The Washington Post tied the incident to prior gun-policy debates by noting that Thai lawmakers pledged gun reforms after a 2022 attack in northeastern Thailand when a 34-year-old former police officer killed 37 people, including 24 children, at a nursery. France 24 reported that the gunman fired 26 rounds and another 34 rounds of ammunition were found at the scene, and it quoted Anutin telling reporters at Bangkok's Government House, "How could this happen in our country?"