Siege ends with killer’s death
A soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima before he was shot dead early yesterday.
Most of the victims were at the city’s Terminal 21 shopping centre, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammunition stolen from his army base.
Police named him as 32-year-old soldier Jakrapanth Thomma. He initially posted written messages on Facebook during the attack before his account was shut down by the company.
Sharp-shooters brought an end to a 17-hour-ordeal when they killed the gunman yesterday morning after a night which was marked by heavy exchanges of gunfire and terrifying dashes for mall exits by shoppers trapped in the Terminal 21 mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat.
“It was a personal conflict...over a house deal,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters yesterday from Nakhon Ratchasima after travelling there to meet wounded survivors.
“It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens,” he said outside a hospital where victims were being treated.
Prayuth added that the conflict was with a relative of the soldier’s commanding officer.
CCTV footage from inside the mall posted on social media showed the gunman dressed in black and wearing a mask, his gun slung over his shoulder with no sign of other people around.
The killings began at around 3 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Saturday when the well-trained soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then driving to the mall in a stolen Humvee.
The soldier’s commanding officer was one of the people reported killed before the soldier moved on to the shopping mall and began shooting. At some point during the day, the soldier raided the army camp’s weapons storage to arm himself, said Lt General Thanya Kiatsarn, Commander of the Second Area Command. A guard was killed there.
Hours before he began shooting on Saturday, Jakrapanth had posted on his Facebook account denouncing greedy people.
“Rich from cheating. Taking advantage of other people. Do they think they can spend the money in hell?” read one post in Thai.
He later posted written updates during the attack. “Death is inevitable for everyone,” he wrote. Later, he complained about his fingers cramping and asked “Should I give up?” before the account was no longer available.
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