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A 14-year-old student has carried out one of Thailand’s deadliest school attacks, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 30 others in a shooting spree at his home and school in Nonthaburi province, northwest of Bangkok.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the teenager first shot dead his grandparents before travelling to the Debsirin Nonthaburi School, where he killed five teachers.
The suspect later died by suicide while still carrying dozens of unused rounds of ammunition.
Officials reported that nine of the wounded remained in life-threatening condition as emergency teams continued to provide medical care.
Police officers and rescue personnel rushed to the campus after reports of an active shooter, while frightened students and staff evacuated classrooms.
Authorities instructed anyone still inside the buildings to remain hidden until security forces secured the area.
National Police Chief General Kittiratt Phanphet said preliminary forensic findings indicated the gunman fired with considerable precision, with several victims sustaining fatal injuries to critical parts of the body.
According to the prime minister, investigators believe the attack was carefully organised and executed according to a planned sequence.
The identity of the teenager has not been released because of his age.
One seventh-grade student who escaped the violence told the BBC she watched the attacker move between classrooms before fatally shooting a teacher standing near the doorway of her class.
She said panic overwhelmed her immediately afterwards.
Another student, speaking to Reuters, recalled initially mistaking the loud explosions for fireworks before realising they were gunshots.
Police disclosed that the 9mm pistol used in the assault belonged to the suspect’s grandfather, who had previously worked as a teacher.
Scenes outside the school showed distressed parents, students and employees gathering as ambulances transported victims to nearby hospitals.
The school later appealed to the public through social media to donate blood for those receiving treatment.
Several neighbouring schools also dismissed students early as a safety precaution.
Prime Minister Charnvirakul described the incident as heartbreaking, offering condolences to the bereaved families and saying such violence had no place in Thailand.
Although Thailand maintains stringent firearms legislation, authorities have long faced challenges preventing the circulation of illegal weapons.
Estimates suggest that a significant proportion of privately owned firearms in the country are unregistered despite strict legal penalties.
The latest tragedy adds to a series of deadly shootings that have shaken Thailand in recent years.
In 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, during an attack on a childcare centre in northeastern Thailand.
A separate shooting at a Bangkok market in 2025 claimed five lives before the attacker took his own life, while another school shooting earlier this year left a teacher dead in Hat Yai.
Previous incidents include the 2020 military base shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima, where 29 people were killed, and the 2023 Siam Paragon shopping centre attack in Bangkok, in which another 14-year-old gunman killed two people and wounded five others.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong