An ex-policeman has killed 34 people at a childcare center in Thailand. Panya Kamrab also killed his wife and child after reaching home. Many children including those as young as 2 were among the victim in the childcare center. The horrific shooting took place in Nong Bua Lamphu on Thursday.
Reports suggested that Kamrab was fired for drug involvement. He entered the childcare center during lunchtime and started firing on teachers. At that time nearly 30 children were in the center and he shot 22 children in the horrific incident.
Shooter's Child Attended the Day-Care Centre
According to reports, the gunman's child was a regular pupil at the day-care centre. BBC cited a teacher as saying that the shooter used to drop his child off at the nursery. However, the child was not there in the nursery when the attack happened. After carrying out the horrible massacre, the shooter returned home to kill his child.
Kamrab Shot A Pregnant Teacher
Kamrab also shot staffers in the center including an eight-month pregnant teacher. The gunman was discharged from his police services last year due to his links with drugs.
Gunman Left Centre In A Pick-up Truck
Kamrab had left the childcare center in a white-four-door Toyota pick-up truck. He returned to his home, where he killed his wife and child before taking his own life.
District police official Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya cited witnesses as saying the gunman was also seen wielding a knife in the attack in the town of Uthai Sawan, 500km northeast of Bangkok in the province of Nong Bua Lamphu, according to Channel News Asia (CNA).
Kamrab Killed His Wife And Child At Home
Kamrab was facing trial on a drugs charge and hours before the shooting, he was in court.
District official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working in a nearby office at the time, told Reuters that the shooter came in around lunchtime and shot four or five officials at the childcare center first.
Kamrab Was Suspended From Services in 2021
"It's really shocking. We were very scared and ran to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, I've never seen anything like it."
Revealing that Kamrab had made his way into a locked room where children were sleeping, Boonsom believed that he could have killed children there with a knife.
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