A mass casualty event including shooting and stabbing has occurred at a daycare center in Uthai Sawan, Thailand, and the country’s law enforcement is now identifying the culprit as a former police officer.
The former policeman apparently killed at least 37 people on Thursday, beginning with a “knife and gun rampage” at a daycare. He later shot and killed his own wife and child at their home before using the gun to take his own his own life, according to local police as reported by Reuters.
In total, there are believed to be 22 minor victims and at least 15 adult victims of the rampage, which is one of the worst in Thailand’s history. Most of the children at the daycare, police say, were stabbed to death.
The children at the daycare center in Uthai Sawan, a town 310 miles northeast of Bangkok, were mostly stabbed to death, police said 2/5 pic.twitter.com/ntpdxcOPH1
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 6, 2022
Videos posted to social media have appeared to show streets in the far-off city strewn with the bodies of children, but international media has been unable to confirm the authenticity of the video.
Other videos seem to show concerned parents attempting to reunite with their children, and underscore reports that the total number of children at the facility was lower than normal due to rainy weather conditions.
#NongBuaLamphu #Thailand🇹🇭- Scenes outside childcare center in #UthaiSawan Subdistrict Administrative Organization of #NaKlang District with emergency services responding following mass shooting; at least 34 people killed (📹พ่อครัว มือช่าง) pic.twitter.com/5XbnO4epW2
— CyclistAnons🚲 (@CyclistAnons) October 6, 2022
Children who died in the attack were reportedly between two and five years old.
BBC reported that the event happened at around noon local time, and confirmed that the assailant ultimately took his own life.
The shooting took place around 12.30pm local time on Thursday in Uthaisawan Na Klang district in Nong Bua Lamphu province, police said. pic.twitter.com/qnQCzrryfk
— Apex World News (@apexworldnews) October 6, 2022
Already, the attack is being described as one of the worst mass shooting or stabbing sprees against children. More children were killed in this attack than in the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which tragically saw 19 lose their loves.
The tragedy comes despite Thailand’s strict gun laws, which impose heavy fines on citizens who obtain weapons illegally and restrict firearm ownership. However, Reuters notes, a comparatively large percentage of the country’s population own weapons illegally due to an extensive black market for weapons in the region.
Police say the gun used in the attack was obtained legally.
This is a breaking story and may be updated with additional information as it becomes available.
If you or a loved one are in crisis and live in the United States, please call 988 to speak to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If you are in crisis and live in the United Kingdom, please call the Samaritans at 116 123.
