{"id":192339,"date":"2020-02-09T12:48:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T11:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/?p=192339"},"modified":"2020-02-09T12:49:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T11:49:06","slug":"thailand-shooting-police-storm-shopping-centre-after-gunman-kills-20-in-rampage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/?p=192339","title":{"rendered":"Thailand shooting: Police storm shopping centre after gunman kills 20 in rampage"},"content":{"rendered":"
Police and the army have stormed the shopping centre in Thailand where a soldier has gone on a shooting rampage, killing at least 20 people and injuring 31 others.<\/p>\n

Police say they have now secured the Terminal 21 mall in the northwestern city of Nakhon Ratchasima – also known as Korat, but they have not said whether the gunman, named as Sgt Jakrapanth Thomma, has been found or not.<\/p>\n

There are no more bodies left inside, according to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.<\/p>\n

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\"Jakrapanth<\/p>\n<\/div>

Jakrapanth Thomma is seen on CCTV inside the shopping centre<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\"People<\/p>\n<\/div>
People are evacuated from the Terminal 21 shopping mall by members of the security forces <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

He confirmed the figure of 20 dead, but added: “We don’t know whether there are any additional injuries or deaths or not.”<\/p>\n

Just after 2.40 am local time (7.40pm GMT), a large group of armed police officers entered the mall and several bursts of automatic gunfire could be heard from inside.<\/p>\n

Mr Anutin earlier said that a doctor was shot while helping an injured victim.<\/p>\n

The suspect appeared to be armed with an assault rifle, based on security camera video aired on Thai Rath television.<\/p>\n

Several Thai media reported that he travelled in a military vehicle.<\/p>\n

Earlier, defence military spokesperson Kongcheep Tantrawanit said: “Police officers and soldiers are joining forces and have helped evacuate hundreds of people from inside the mall. It’s not known how many are still inside.”<\/p>\n

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\n\"Security
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\nThai gunman walking through mall <\/span>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dozens of people were seen running from the building, fleeing in groups.<\/p>\n

Some carried children, while others supported elderly people, carrying them with one person on each side.<\/p>\n

Authorities say they got reports of the shooting at around 3.30pm local time. Police announced they had secured the mall shortly before midnight.<\/p>\n

The gunman initially went to a house in the city, which is more than 250km (155miles) from Bangkok, and shot two people dead before going to a weapons store on an army base and taking a new gun, local police said.<\/p>\n

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\"Police<\/p>\n<\/div>

Police say Sgt Jakrapanth Thomma is reportedly angry over a land dispute<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Earlier in the day he posted on his Facebook page that: “Death is inevitable for everyone.”<\/p>\n

At one point after the shooting had begun, he wrote: “Should I give up?”<\/p>\n

He also uploaded a picture of what looked like him holding a gun, and in a later post, he wrote: “I have stopped already.”<\/p>\n

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\"Thailand<\/p>\n<\/div>

Thailand Police have issued a wanted poster as they attempt to arrest the suspect<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Facebook said on Saturday that it had removed the account, saying: “Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and the community affected by this tragedy in Thailand.<\/p>\n

“There is no place on Facebook for people who commit this kind of atrocity, nor do we allow people to praise or support this attack,” a representative said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The soldier opened fire at different locations in the city, police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said in a message to reporters.<\/p>\n

He then drove past a school towards the Terminal 21 shopping centre and continued his shooting spree.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/p>\n<\/div>

The gunman has been named as Corporal Jakrapanth Thomma <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It was shut down and the street outside closed.<\/p>\n

Video taken outside the shopping centre and shared on social media show people taking cover in a car park as gunshots were fired.<\/p>\n

A woman interviewed by Thailand’s Channel One television said when she heard gunshots she hid in a clothing store with other people before managing to escape.<\/p>\n

Another woman who filmed a video from outside the shopping centre said she had just left the building after finishing her meal.<\/p>\n

“While we were in our car on the opposite side, we heard a loud sound and then we could see people starting to run out”, said Nattaya Nganiem.<\/p>\n

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\"Nattaya<\/p>\n<\/div>

A woman (centre, behind blue car) runs away from the mall during the rampage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

She added: “First I saw a woman run out from the mall hysterically. Then a motorcycle rider in front of her just ran and left his motorcycle there.<\/p>\n

“I thought, what’s happening? Then we heard several gunshots.<\/p>\n

“The motorcycle guy probably had seen the gunman from where he was. We couldn’t see him, but we could hear the sound of the gun. It was terrifying.<\/p>\n

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\"Thail<\/p>\n<\/div>

Thail security forces take cover behind an ambulance as they hunt the suspect<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

“We were just inside having dinner and my child was getting unusually restless, that’s why we left, otherwise, we would have been stuck inside there.<\/p>\n

“I can’t believe this is happening in my hometown. I mean, this shopping mall, we go there almost every other day.”<\/p>\n

She said once she got home and learned what had happened, she fainted.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/p>\n<\/div>

Prayuth Chan-ocha has expressed condolences to the families of those killed<\/span><\/figcaption>Unconfirmed victims include police and a motorbike taxi driver who tried to stop him.<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A police officer said the suspect had been involved in an argument about a land deal and shot two people who were involved, another soldier and a woman.<\/p>\n

He said a third person was injured.<\/p>\n

“We don’t know why he did this. It appears he went mad,” said defence ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has expressed condolences to the families of those killed.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Police and the army have stormed the shopping centre in Thailand where a soldier has gone on a shooting rampage, killing at least 20 people and injuring 31 others. Police say they have now secured the Terminal 21 mall in the northwestern city of Nakhon Ratchasima – also known as Korat, but they have not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":192340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[13931,11830],"class_list":["post-192339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more","tag-shooting","tag-thailand"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=192339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/192340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=192339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=192339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=192339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}