Thai authorities report that a shooting at a luxury mall in Bangkok’s city center has claimed the lives of three people.
In the incident, four other people were injured, one of whom was a foreigner.
Upon surrendering, a suspect, 14, was taken into custody. Police reported that he was carrying a handgun.
According to the AFP news agency, the prime minister declared that the situation had been stabilized and that police were clearing the scene.
Footage on social media earlier showed shoppers running out of the center, which was quickly evacuated and had its doors closed.
A nearby Siam metro station was also shut.
People shared videos that appeared to have been taken inside the mall. Four loud noises that resemble gunshots can be clearly heard in the busy complex in one video.
Witnesses also said they had taken to hiding inside shops and bathrooms.
The owner of a shop on the second floor of the mall, who was present during the incident, told the media that she had heard several gunshots.
The victims’ families have received the “deepest condolences” from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Despite the country’s relatively high rates of gun ownership in the region, mass shootings are uncommon in Thailand.
In an attack with a gun and a knife at a daycare center in the province of Nong Bua Lamphu in north-east Thailand in October of last year, an ex-policeman killed at least 37 people, the majority of them children.
In the city of Nakhon Ratchasima in 2020, a soldier shot and killed 29 people while also injuring dozens more.
Source-BBC
