A 14-year-old student opened fire at a high school north of Bangkok on Friday, killing five teachers and staff before turning the gun on himself, in what Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called the country’s deadliest school shooting
Authorities said the boy had killed his two grandparents at the family home, where he lived, earlier that morning before heading to Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province, roughly 20 kilometers from the capital. The shooting broke out around 10 a.m. local time.
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said more than 20 people were wounded in the attack, with some reports putting the injury toll above 30. Police said the shooter fired at least 26 rounds and had another 34 rounds of ammunition on him at the scene. No students were among the dead, though several were injured and others described hiding in classrooms as gunfire echoed through the building before officers guided them to safety.
The school, a co-educational state institution with roughly 3,000 students aged 12 to 18, was placed under lockdown as emergency crews and police responded. Parents and relatives gathered outside as the scene was cleared, with witnesses describing chaotic and emotional evacuations.
Friday’s attack ranks among the deadliest instances of gun violence at a Thai school. It follows a string of shootings in the country in recent years, including a mall shooting by a 14-year-old in 2023 and a mass shooting in February in which a 17-year-old took hostages at a school using a gun stolen from police. Thailand also endured one of Asia’s worst mass killings in 2022, when a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a shooting and stabbing rampage at a daycare center.
Though Thailand’s overall rate of gun deaths remains lower than in much of Latin America, it is comparatively high for the region, and the frequency of recent school-linked shootings has renewed public debate over firearm access and school security in the country.
