Soldier’s ‘unprecedented’ killing spree in Nakhon Ratchasima left 26 dead: Thai PM Prayut

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Feb 9, 2020, Reuters, NYT, AFP. A Thai soldier who went on a rampage in a north-eastern city that ended in a standoff in a packed shopping mall killed 26 people and wounded at least 52, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Sunday (Feb 9), The Straits Times reported.

The soldier was motivated by a grudge over a land deal in which he felt he had been cheated, said Prayut, who travelled to the north-eastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima to visit wounded survivors.

Prayut added that the conflict was with a relative of the soldier’s commanding officer.

The commanding officer was one of the people who was reported killed before the soldier moved on to the shopping mall and began shooting.

“It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens,” he said outside a hospital where victims were sent after they were evacuated from the shopping mall where the 17-hour rampage took place.

The soldier was killed by armed forces after an overnight siege at the Terminal 21 shopping centre in the city. He had been armed with an assault weapon and ammunition stolen from the army base’s arsenal, an official said.

“Thank you police and army for ending the situation. Shooter shot dead!!!” Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a post on Facebook.

The killings began at around 3pm local time on Saturday (4pm Singapore) when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then to the mall in Nakhon Ratchasima in north-eastern Thailand, posting messages on Facebook as he went.

Police have identified the suspected shooter as 32-year-old Jakrapanth Thomma.

Overnight, one member of the security forces was killed and at least two others wounded in a raid into the Terminal 21 mall to try to stop the gunman.

Security camera footage from the mall showed a young man in camouflage walking past shops with a long gun.

“We are doing our best. You can see that all our senior officers of the government have been assigned here,” Anutin told reporters earlier. “All steps are being taken with precautions so that we can minimise the damage as much as we can.”

Police closed off streets around the mall and kept journalists behind a security cordon.

Reports from inside described frantic shoppers fleeing, hiding in food court kitchens and behind cash registers, holding their breath and silencing their phones.

“I was really terrified. At that moment, I could not think about anything,” said Kul Kaemthong, a mall cleaner who rushed into a room in the fourth-floor food court with about 40 other people to hide before emerging hours later. “When we heard a gunshot, everybody started running for our lives.”

Another shopper who escaped told local Amarin TV that the shooter was “aiming for the heads” and said his colleague died on the scene. “I heard so many gunshots. He was shooting everywhere and his shots were very precise,” said the man, identified as“Diaw”.

Thai media said the suspected shooter had worked at an army base close to Nakhon Ratchasima, which is about 250km from the capital Bangkok.

“SPEND THE MONEY IN HELL”

Before the attack, Jakrapanth had posted on his Facebook account that he was out for vengeance – but he did not say for what.

The day before attack, Jakrapanth had posted on his Facebook account denouncing greedy people.

“Rich from cheating. Taking advantage of other people. Do they think they can spend the money in hell?” read one post in Thai.

He later posted written updates during the attack.

“Death is inevitable for everyone,” he wrote. Later, he complained about his fingers cramping and asked “Should I give up?” before the account was no longer available.

Hours after the mall siege began, Facebook said it had removed the suspect’s account.

“There is no place on Facebook for people who commit this kind of atrocity, nor do we allow people to praise or support this attack,” a Facebook representative said in a statement.

‘I COULD HEAR THE OCCASIONAL GUNSHOT’

At some point during the day, the soldier had raided the army camp’s armoury to arm himself, said Lt.General Thanya Kiatsarn, Commander of the Second Area Command.

“He attacked the guard to the weapon arsenal, who later died, and he stole an official jeep and an HK33 gun and an amount of ammunition to did what he did,” Thanya said.

After soldiers and police stormed into the mall overnight, hundreds of trapped people were escorted to safety.

“It was frightening because I could hear the occasional gunshot … we waited a long time for the police to come and help us, many hours,” said Suvanarat Jirattanasakul, 27, her voice trembling after she emerged.

The mall was busy with shoppers on a long weekend for the Buddhist Makha Bucha holiday.

Major shootings are rare in the South-east Asian country other than in the far south, where a decades-old insurgency persists.

Nakhon Ratchasima is one of the biggest cities in north-eastern Thailand, an island of relative prosperity in a rice growing area that is one of the poorest parts of the country of 69 million people.

Tags: Thailand