The death toll from a school shooting in Thailand rose to nine on Saturday, after police said a ۱۲-year-old girl caught up in Friday’s incident had died.
Police at the Plai Bang Police Station in Nonthaburi Province said the girl, who had been treated at hospital with critical wounds, had died, a day after a ۱۴-year-old boy allegedly shot his grandparents and then killed more people at his school before turning the gun on himself.
The ۱۴-year-old wounded more than ۳۰ people in the shooting at the Debsirin Nonthaburi school northwest of Bangkok. Fourteen people remained in hospital on Saturday evening, seven of them in critical condition.
Police are questioning more witnesses as part of their investigation, including the suspect’s parents. The suspected attacker fired at least ۲۶ bullets with a gun belonging to his grandfather, and was found with ۳۴ additional ammunition rounds.
The suspected shooter remained inside the school after reports of the attack emerged, Arsit Sampantharat, the permanent secretary of the interior ministry, told PPTV.
A lockdown at the school was declared over in about half an hour. Images from the scene showed students running with only socks on their feet as they were evacuated from the school.
Thailand’s prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, has vowed to implement new gun laws, telling reporters only government officials on duty would be allowed to carry guns. However, he did not provide any specifics, including whether the legislation would tighten gun ownership requirements.
Thailand has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in south-east Asia, and in ۲۰۱۷ the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey placed the country ۱۳th worldwide for small-gun possession.
A number of mass shootings have occurred in recent years in Thailand, including incidents at schools and a large Bangkok mall, and a ۲۰۲۲ attack in the country’s north-east that killed ۳۷ people including ۲۲ children.
