Suspect in Bangkok mall shooting that killed 2 used a modified mock gun, police say

BANGKOK – The teenage boy who allegedly shot two other people useless and wounded 5 others inside of a main buying groceries mall in the middle of Thailand’s capital used a mock handgun that have been modified to fireside actual bullets, police mentioned Wednesday.

The suspect was once taken into custody not up to an hour after the primary gunshots Tuesday afternoon on the Siam Paragon Mall, certainly one of Bangkok’s greatest and maximum upscale buying groceries locations.

Video uploaded to social media and broadcast on tv confirmed a long-haired teenage boy in the custody of police. Major Thai media reported he was once 14 years outdated and a scholar at a distinguished personal college. Recently appointed Police Chief Torsak Sukvimol showed handiest that he’s a minor and had a document of being handled for psychological sickness.

Assistant National Police Chief Samran Nualma mentioned at a news convention Wednesday that the weapon used was once “a plastic gun and adapted to use with real bullets.” It has variously been described as initially supposed to fireside blanks or BBs.

Samran mentioned the government had been taking a look into the legislation of such pieces. Mock guns are widespread amongst army buffs in Thailand and will also be freely bought. Licensing of actual weapons is particular and restricted to other people twenty years or older. The penalty for illegal ownership of a firearm is as much as 10 years in jail and a high-quality of 20,000 baht ($538).

The minister of Tourism and Sports, Sudawan Wangsuppakitkosol, showed on the news convention that a Chinese citizen and a Myanmar citizen had died. She mentioned 5 other people had been hospitalized — one from China, one from Laos and 3 Thais — and that a number of had been in important situation.

“We wish to rebuild self belief. We will seek advice from the National Police placing protection measures in shops and communities to stop such incidents,” she said.

Thailand is relying on its once-robust tourism industry for a full economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic. It is especially encouraging visitors from China, who before the pandemic were by far the largest national group. But Chinese social media have lately been filled with warnings about safety in Thailand because of some high-profile crimes and scam operations.

Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, though mass shootings are rare.

The incident occurred days before Thais are to mark the anniversary of the country’s biggest mass killing by an individual, a gun and knife attack at a rural day care center in a northeastern province that killed 36 people, most of them preschoolers, on Oct. 6, 2022.

In 2020, a disgruntled soldier opened fire in and around a mall in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, killing 29 people and holding off security forces for about 16 hours before eventually being killed by them.

Tuesday’s shooting prompted authorities to temporarily shut access to the nearby Siam Square elevated train stop, preventing commuters from exiting at the key transfer point as the evening rush hour began and intense rain pounded the city.

Although gun laws in Thailand are relatively restrictive, the country has one of the highest levels of gun ownership in Asia, according to GunPolicy.org, a research project at Australia’s University of Sydney.

There are about 10 guns per 100 people in Thailand, including those owned illegally, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia, the project said.

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Associated Press reporters Penny Yi Wang, Grant Peck, Tian Macleod Ji and Jintamas Saksornchai contributed reporting.