Gunman fires inside Thai government office as country reels from school shooting
A former Thai lawmaker shot and killed a provincial official in a government office near Bangkok following a personal financial dispute. The incident occurred shortly after a separate mass shooting at a school, prompting renewed government calls for stricter gun control.
Why it matters
The back-to-back violent incidents have intensified public and political pressure on the Thai government to address gun violence and security protocols.
The suspected gunman, a former lawmaker, has been detained after firing at a senior provincial official and his driver.
Listen BANGKOK – A gunman killed a Thai official inside a government office on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital on Aug 10, officials said, just days after a teenager’s killing rampage at a school in the same province reignited debate over gun control.
Police said the suspected shooter, former lawmaker Chalong Riewrang, fired at the chairman of the Provincial Administrative Organization in Nonthaburi, which borders Bangkok, because of a disagreement over borrowed money.
“The motive was personal,” Police Lieutenant-General Wattana Yijin told reporters, adding that the provincial official’s driver was also wounded, but is not in a critical state.
The official died of his wounds at Nonthaburi’s Phra Nang Klao Hospital, its director Sakol Sookprome told Reuters.
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