BANGKOK - The authorities in Thailand charged on Wednesday a 14-year-old boy with premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm on Wednesday after a shooting spree at a popular Bangkok mall using what police disclosed was a modified pistol intended to fire blanks.
The teenager suffered a psychological breakdown in the run-up to the shooting at the luxury Siam Paragon shopping centre on Tuesday in which two foreigners were killed, police said, the latest gun violence to shock Thailand in the past three years.
But a court turned down a police request to detain the suspect at a mental health facility and ordered him into juvenile detention instead, according to a court document seen by Reuters.
The suspect faces five charges, including illegal possession of a firearm, the illegal carrying of a firearm in public, and illegal discharge of a firearm in public, Major-General Nakarin Sukhontawit told Reuters.
Chaos erupted late in the afternoon close to peak hours at the mall in Bangkok’s bustling commercial centre, with hundreds of panicked shoppers fleeing as gunshots rang out.
Two women from China and Myanmar were killed, and five people were wounded – two foreigners and three Thai nationals.
The suspect surrendered after police cornered him inside a designer furniture shop.
The boy had been receiving psychological treatment and had not taken his prescribed medication on the day of the shooting, probers said.
Investigators were looking into the boy’s background and planned to speak to his online gaming friends about his mental state, General Torsak Sukvimol, the national police chief, said, adding it was unusual to apprehend a shooter alive.
“We will have to investigate the suspect as to whether he had violent and aggressive conduct before,” he said in a television interview.
“The suspect had a breakdown psychologically, and it fits an active shooter profile,” Gen Torsak said, adding he had questioned the detained boy.
“Initially I spoke to him to calm him down... He appeared to hear someone speaking to him, he was hearing things, a noise he said told him to shoot.”
A senior police officer, Major-General Samran Nuanma, said the teenager modified a gun designed to fire blank rounds, to enable it to use live ammunition.
Thai media reported that when the police searched the suspect’s room in a 2½-storey townhouse, they found an airsoft gun, many rounds of ammunition, including 49 9mm bullets and 15 spent shells of various sizes. He lived with his parents, who are professors.
The police also found videos in his phone that showed him using a firearm.
The Nation reported that the suspect’s parents were unaware of the origins of the weapon and ammunition.
In expressing their condolences to the families of the victims, Siam Paragon management pledged to cover their medical expenses and provide them with some compensation, reported broadcaster Thai PBS World.
One of the mall’s security guards was among the injured.
Mass shootings are rare in Thailand, but gun violence and gun ownership are common.
Rules on ownership are strict, but firearms can be modified and obtained illegally, many smuggled from abroad.
The violence came three days before the first anniversary of an hours-long gun-and-knife attack by a former policeman who later shot himself dead. The attack in a north-east Thai town led to the deaths of 38 people, including 22 children at a nursery.
In 2020, a soldier shot and killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations around the north-eastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima.
The latest shooting comes when the new government is trying to stimulate a stuttering economy by boosting tourist arrivals in what is one of Asia’s most popular travel spots, including by offering visa-free entry to Chinese nationals.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin expressed his condolences over the deaths in opening remarks at a technology event hosted by Siam Paragon, which reopened for business on Wednesday.
China is a crucial market for Thailand’s tourism industry, accounting for a quarter of its record of nearly 40 million visitors in pre-pandemic 2019.
China’s embassy in Bangkok expressed regret over the incident. It said Mr Srettha had called its ambassador to give assurances of a thorough investigation and to “strengthen public safety management to offer a reliable and safe environment for Chinese people travelling to Thailand”. REUTERS
