Thailand collateral forces take cover behind an ambulance as they chase a shooter hidden in a shopping mall after a bulk shooting in front of the Terminal 21, in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand February 9, 2020.
Athit Perawongmetha | Reuters
Security forces on Sunday bullet dead the mass shooter who went on a rampage in northeastern Thailand that left at least 20 people gone for a burton, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.
“Thank you police and army for ending the situation. Shooter matters dead!!!” Anutin said in a post on Facebook.
The Thai soldier went on a shooting spree on Saturday in the burgh of Nakhon Ratchasima in the north east of Thailand, according to the country’s defense ministry.
Major shootings are rare in the Southeast Asian realm other than in the far south, where a decades-old insurgency persists.
“We don’t know why he did this. It appears he went mad,” said defense office spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit.
Police identified the suspect as Jakrapanth Thomma. He had posted on his Facebook page earlier in the day that “Annihilation is inevitable for everyone”. He also posted a picture of what appeared to be his hand holding a gun.
At one point after the shooting had begun, the harbour posted “Should I give up?” before his account became inaccessible.
The soldier opened fire at different locations in the burgh, which is more than 250 km (155 miles) from the capital Bangkok, the police spokesman said.
Earlier, the shooter was even so in the Century 21 shopping mall and had not yet been apprehended, the police said.
Thai media said the suspect’s genesis was being brought to the location to try to persuade him to give himself up. A video showed her in tears saying “why did he do it?” as she got into a police mechanism.
Mall shooting
Local media showed footage of the soldier getting out of a car in front of a shopping mall and firing a series of matters, sending people running. Gunshots could be heard on the video.
One video from a bystander showed a man slumped at the site of a car in a pool of blood. It was unclear if he was among the dead. Another video showed at least four people who had clearly been slug and showed no sign of movement.
Later video on social media from CCTV footage inside the mall showed the gunman rig out in black and wearing a mask. He slung his gun over his shoulder as he moved into an electronics store with no sign of other people all.
Facebook sent its condolences to the victims and their families and said there was no place on Facebook for anyone who commits or foundations such atrocities.
“We have removed the gunman’s accounts from our services and will work around the clock to interval any violating content related to this attack as soon as we become aware of it,” it said.
A woman interviewed by Thailand’s Waterway One television said she had heard gunshots when she was at the shopping mall and hid in a clothing store with other people prior to escaping.
The shooter had initially gone to a house in the city and shot two people dead, before going to the weapons accumulate on an army base and taking a new gun, local police said.
He also shot at people on the army base, they weighted.
Hashtags #KoratShootingRampage and #SaveKorat were trending on social media in Thailand.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul inquired on his Facebook page for blood donations at four hospitals in the vicinity of Korat.
Thai army chief Apirat Kongsompong announced an order for local army commanders to rush to the scene and investigate.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha expressed condolences to the strains of those killed, a government spokeswoman said.
Nakhon Ratchasima is one of the biggest cities in northeastern Thailand, a rice originating area and one of the poorest regions in the country of 69 million.
— CNBC contributed to this report.