Thai solider goes on rampage, ‘kills 20’

A soldier in Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province has reportedly killed 20 people after going on a shooting spree.

The soldier, a junior officer identified as Jakraphanth Thomma, opened fire in a shopping complex after stealing arms and ammunition from a military camp.

The BBC quoted a Thai official as saying many people were also injured by the soldier who killed his commanding officer at the camp.

They were said to have had a quarrel before he shot the commander and proceeded to cart away the weapons.

He reportedly drove through the city centre and opened fire at a number of sites before storming the shopping complex.

The soldier was captured in a CCTV footage firing shots as people flee. The BBC said he also posted images of the attack on social media.

It quoted one of those who fled the complex as saying she and others hid under a restaurant table “for three hours, hearing at least four gunshots before she saw some soldiers and could get to safety”.

A police spokesman told CNN the motive of the suspect, who has been holed up in the complex, is still unknown.

“At the moment we are trying to capture the guy. Both police and military forces have been deployed to the area,” Krissana Pattanacharoen was quoted as saying.

Thanya Kiatsarn, a military commander, was also quoted as saying no hostages in the attack have been confirmed yet.

“But we believe he [the shooter] is still holding inside Terminal 21 shopping mall. We are working on this,” CNN quoted him as saying.

The suspect’s mother is said to have been brought to the shopping centre to “try to persuade him” to give himself up.