Thai gunman detained, hostages freed after school shooting

A ⁠gunman who used a ⁠firearm stolen from a police officer to wound a teacher and a girl at a school in southern Thailand’s Hat Yai district on Wednesday has been detained, authorities said.

The 17-year-old ‌suspect entered Patongprathankiriwat School in Songkhla Province’s Hat Yai earlier in the day, appearing agitated, the provincial government said in a statement.

The suspect has a sister at the school, police commander Teerasak Chaiyotha said, but a motive has yet to be determined.

A Thai policeman stands outside Patongrathankiriwt school at Hat Yai, southern Thailand, on Wednesday. Photo: AP
A Thai policeman stands outside Patongrathankiriwt school at Hat Yai, southern Thailand, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

A female ⁠teacher was critically injured and had undergone surgery and was now in ‌an intensive care unit, while a teen girl was shot in the waist and was now in stable ‌condition, he added.

In a photograph shared by police, the suspect, ⁠barefoot and wearing ⁠shorts and a T-shirt, is shown pinned to the ground by armed officers.

He had ‌earlier attacked a police officer and stolen his firearm, provincial governor Ratthasart Chidchoo said, adding that the ‌suspect ‌had a history of substance abuse and was discharged from a ‌psychiatric hospital in December.

In a video obtained by Reuters, armed police ⁠officers storm the three-storey school building as gunfire rings out.