Listen to this story |
Here is what we know so far from the shooting at Siam Paragon in Bangkok on October 3:
Casualties and Injuries:
- Two females have been killed, one Chinese national and one Myanmar national.
- Five people were injured, with two in critical condition, one of whom was shot in the head.
- The injured include one Chinese national, one Laotian, and three Thais.
- According to Siam Paragon, one of the injured is their security guard.
- Out of the seven people who were shot, six were female.
The Shooter:
- The shooter is a 14-year-old Thai male who attended Essence School, located at SiamScape Building, not far from where the shooting took place.
- According to his parents, the shooter lives alone.
- The national police chief, Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, said the shooter claimed to have heard voices telling him to commit the crime.
- Dr. Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said the shooter has been treated for a mental health problem at the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health since February and had received treatment at another institution before.
- The gun used in the crime was a plastic blank gun that had been modified to shoot real rounds.
- The police are still investigating the source of the gun and who modified it. Some reports suggest that the shooter acquired the gun and bullets online for around 10,000 baht, but this has not been confirmed by the police.
- Pol Maj Gen Nakarin Sukontawit, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 6, said the motive is still unknown, as the shooter was not in the right mental condition to provide a coherent statement last night and this morning.
- The police have pressed five charges against the shooter, including premeditated murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm without a permit, carrying a firearm in a public place without a permit, and shooting in public without a permit. Additional charges are pending for the bullets recovered at the shooter’s residence in Bang Khae district.
- Pol Maj Gen Nakarin said the police are also investigating the parents of the shooter to determine whether they violated the Child Protection Act. Sorawit Limparangsri, spokesman of the Court of Justice, stated that the parents might have also violated Section 429 of the Civil and Commercial Code, which holds parents or guardians of a minor who committed a crime accountable unless they can demonstrate proper care and supervision.
- Unconfirmed news reports suggest that the murder was premeditated because the shooter concealed the weapon in his bag before entering a restroom on the M floor of the department store, where he changed his clothes before committing the crime.
- A video from the shooter’s phone showed him practicing reloading a gun, and he sent a photo of the gun’s magazine to one of his friends before committing the crime.
- A circulating video shows that he had been practicing shooting at a shooting range before committing the crime.
- According to unconfirmed news reports, messages from his phone indicate that he was under pressure from his mother due to his low academic performance in school. He had been sending photos of himself holding a gun or shooting at the shooting range to his parents.
Responses:
- A command center has been established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for coordination, as some of the casualties and injured individuals are foreigners.
- The Department of Mental Health has dispatched members of the Mental Health Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team to the shooter, the victims, and the victims’ families. A team is being set up at Siam Paragon to provide advice to witnesses on how to cope mentally with the situation.
- Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society is currently exploring the implementation of an alert system to notify the public about emergency situations in the future. He also said the government plans to tighten controls on the online sale of blank guns to prevent minors from accessing them.
- PM Srettha personally spoke to the Chinese, Myanmar, and Laotian ambassadors to inform them of the situation updates and convey apologies for the incident.
- Their Majesties the King and Queen have taken all the victims injured in the shooting under their royal patronage.
- Siam Paragon’s staff have received praise from National Police Chief Pol. Gen. Torsak and PM Srettha for adhering to their training during an active shooting incident. They assisted customers in hiding and escaping from the hazardous areas, which managed to minimize the number of casualties and injuries, Pol. Gen. Torsak said.
Timeline (provided by Siam Paragon): - 15:35 – Shooter enters the department store via the BTS Link 2 entrance at the M Floor.
- 15:42 – Shooter enters a toilet next to a brand-name shop on the M Floor with his backpack.
- 16:10 – Shooting starts in the toilet area.
- 16:11 – Shooter walks away from the toilet and starts more shooting on the M Floor.
- 16:25 – Shooter walks to the second floor (Void North) and starts shooting there.
- 16:28 – Shooter walks up the escalator to the third floor and starts shooting there.
- 17:10 – Shooter is apprehended on the third floor.
Our coverage of the incident: - This Time Must Be Different
- The Heroes of Siam Paragon
- Opinion: Bangkok Shooting Sparks Debate on Impact of Environment on Youth Mental Health
- After the Paragon shooting, hard questions must be asked in this Banana Republic