Thai soldier kills at least 20 in shooting spree

BANGKOK: A soldier has killed 20 people and injured dozens more in a gun rampage in the Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Jakraphanth Thomma, a junior officer, killed his commanding officer before stealing weapons from a military camp. The suspect then drove to the city centre and entered a shopping complex where he is believed to be holed up. Armed police said they had taken control of the ground floor of the complex but the whereabouts of the attacker remains unknown.

Police from the Crime Supression Division urged fleeing shoppers to raise their hands and identify themselves on the ground floor and authorities should evacuate them over fears that the attacker may hide among panicked crowds.

Earlier the attacked relayed his shooting spree through social posts which charted the attack from an army barracks to the mall.

Hospitals across the country braced for a grim night ahead. “There are about 20 dead,” Kongcheep Tantravanich, defence ministry spokesman said. “Police, military commandos and sharpshooters are surrounding Terminal 21,” he said.

The Thai Health Minister said around 10 people were already in hospital in a serious condition. The bloodshed began on Saturday afternoon when Jakrapanth shot three people, among them at least one soldier. at a nearby army barracks.

The gunman stole an army vehicle and drove into the town centre, where he used weapons stolen from the army arsenal to bring carnage to a town centre, walking into the Terminal 21 mall. Street lights below the shopping centre were switched off as army and police units sealed off the mall.

His motive remains unclear but throughout the day he posted images of himself and wrote several posts on his Facebook page as the attack unfolded.

The city, better known as Korat, is home to one of Thailand’s largest barracks in the country Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world.