Thai School Shooting Leaves Multiple Dead After Teen Kills Grandparents and Opens Fire

By Staff, Agencies

A 14-year-old student carried out a deadly shooting in Thailand on Friday, killing his grandparents before opening fire at a school outside Bangkok, in what authorities described as the country’s deadliest mass killing since 2022.

According to Thai police, the teenager first fatally shot his grandparents before going to Debsirin Nonthaburi School, on the northwestern outskirts of the capital, where he launched an armed attack on students and staff.

Police said the suspect fired at least 26 rounds and was carrying another 34 rounds of ammunition. Investigators said the firearm belonged to his grandfather.

Lieutenant General Trairong Phophan, spokesperson for Thailand’s National Police, told Reuters that the suspected gunman was among seven people who died at the school. In addition, the teenager’s grandparents were killed before the school attack. Fifteen other people were injured.

Thailand’s Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said both teachers and students were among the victims, confirming that the suspected attacker was a student at the school.

Witnesses described scenes of panic as gunfire echoed through the campus. One 18-year-old student said he initially mistook the sounds for firecrackers before realizing they were gunshots.

Emergency workers treated victims suffering gunshot wounds to the chest, back, and arms. Rescue worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith said responders found a male teacher dead on an upper floor of the school and a female teacher with gunshot wounds to her chest and arm in another room.

After hearing a final gunshot, emergency crews located the teenage suspect with a gunshot wound to the head. Verapongpradith said the boy still had a pulse when rescuers reached him, and CPR was performed before he was taken to hospital.

District authorities said Debsirin Nonthaburi School has approximately 3,100 students and 147 teachers.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul expressed sorrow over the tragedy, saying he was deeply saddened by the loss of life and that such violence should not occur in Thailand.

The attack marks the second school shooting in Thailand this year, following a February incident in the country’s south in which a teacher was killed and a student injured.

Thailand has experienced several deadly mass shootings in recent years. In 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, during an attack on a daycare center in northeastern Thailand. In July 2025, a gunman killed five people at a Bangkok market before taking his own life. Another school shooting in Hat Yai earlier this year claimed the life of a teacher.

A separate 2023 shooting at a luxury shopping mall in Bangkok, carried out by another 14-year-old, prompted the government to tighten firearm regulations. The measures included a temporary suspension of new gun licenses, stricter import controls, restrictions on shooting-range access for those under 20, mandatory mental health evaluations for gun owners, and time limits on certain firearm licenses.

Despite these reforms, Thailand continues to have the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in Southeast Asia. According to the Small Arms Survey, civilians possess an estimated 10.3 million firearms, or roughly 15 guns per 100 residents.