At least 6 dead in Thailand high school shooting after suspect kills grandparents

Nonthaburi, Thailand — A student shot several people at a high school outside Bangkok on Friday, killing three teachers and three students and wounding several others, police said.

The shooting happened at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of the national capital, Royal Thai Police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan told The Associated Press.

He later told news broadcaster Channel 3 the shooter was being hospitalized in serious condition and 15 others were injured, with two in critical condition.

French news agency AFP said local media, citing authorities, reported that the shooter was a student at the school who was also dead. Some reports said police officers had shot and killed the suspect while others said he had died by suicide, according to AFP.

The agency added that police said a man and woman were found dead at the shooter’s home.  

Piwpan said the motive was still being investigated. He said the gun was believed to have been taken from a member of the student’s family.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul offered his condolences and said he had ordered relevant officials to take care of the victims.

Images from the scene about an hour after the shooting showed people standing outside the school comforting one another and police and first responders walking around inside.

A witness told reporters students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building.

In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others.

In 2023, a 14-year-old boy was accused of a shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall.