A 14-year-old student killed his grandparents before opening fire at his school, leaving five staff members dead and 23 people wounded in one of Thailand’s deadliest mass shootings in recent years.

A 14-year-old student killed seven people in a shooting rampage that began at his grandparents’ home and continued at his school on the outskirts of Bangkok on Friday, sending students fleeing classrooms and renewing national concern over gun violence in Thailand.

Thai police said the teenager first shot and killed his grandparents at their home in Bang Bua Thong, in Nonthaburi province, during the early hours of August 7. He later travelled to Debsirin Nonthaburi School, northwest of the Thai capital, carrying his grandfather’s firearm and dozens of rounds of ammunition.

Five members of the school’s staff were subsequently killed, according to police. Another 23 people were wounded, nine of them critically. The teenager later suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died after emergency workers attempted to resuscitate him. His death brought the overall number of fatalities to eight, including the attacker.

Authorities said the teenager had killed his grandparents at around 5 a.m. before boarding the school van that normally collected him from home. The gun and ammunition used in the attack belonged to his grandfather, police said.

The school, which had approximately 3,100 students and 147 teachers during the previous academic year, initially began its day as normal. Police believe the student attended his first class and was partway through his second lesson when he produced the firearm and began shooting.

The first emergency call reporting gunfire reached local police shortly before 10 a.m.

As shots echoed through the school buildings, teachers ordered students to evacuate. Some fled without shoes, while others sheltered beneath desks as police and emergency teams entered the complex.

One student told Reuters that he initially believed the noises were fireworks before realizing gunshots were being fired.

According to police investigators, the teenager is believed to have initially attacked teachers on an upper floor of the school. He later encountered the school’s deputy director and the director’s secretary on a staircase, where both were fatally shot.

Police eventually located the teenager inside another school building at approximately 10:40 a.m. He was still alive after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was given CPR before being transported to hospital, where he died shortly afterwards.

Investigators said the attacker had fired at least 26 rounds, while another 34 rounds of ammunition were recovered from his possession.

 

Motive Remains Under Investigation

Authorities have not established a definitive motive.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the school after the attack, said officials had been told that the teenager had experienced stress connected with his studies. He described the attack as deliberate and said preliminary evidence suggested that it had been planned.

Anutin expressed condolences to the families of those killed and said authorities would provide assistance to the injured and others affected by the shooting.

The attack has also intensified scrutiny of Thailand’s firearm regulations.

Despite relatively strict licensing requirements, Thailand has one of the highest levels of civilian gun ownership in Southeast Asia. The Small Arms Survey has previously estimated that civilians possess roughly 10.3 million firearms, equivalent to approximately 15 guns for every 100 people.

Following Friday’s shooting, Anutin said his government would propose further legislation aimed at restricting the carrying of firearms by members of the public.

 

Renewed Questions Over Gun Violence

The attack is the second shooting at a Thai school this year. In February, a teacher was killed and a student wounded during an attack at a school in southern Thailand.

Thailand has also experienced several major mass shootings in recent years.

In 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people during a gun-and-knife attack in northeastern Thailand, including 22 children at a childcare centre. Two years earlier, a soldier killed 29 people during a shooting rampage that included an attack at a shopping centre in Nakhon Ratchasima.

In 2023, another 14-year-old gunman opened fire inside Bangkok’s Siam Paragon shopping centre, killing two people and wounding five. That attack prompted authorities to introduce tighter restrictions on firearms, including limits on new licences and additional controls involving shooting ranges and gun ownership.

Friday’s killings are now the country’s deadliest mass shooting since the 2022 childcare-centre massacre.

For students, teachers and families at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, however, the immediate consequences are far more personal. What began as an ordinary school morning ended with emergency vehicles surrounding the campus, wounded students being transported to hospitals and grieving teachers and families confronting one of the darkest episodes in the school’s history.

As investigators reconstruct the teenager’s actions and seek to establish what drove the attack, the tragedy is likely to intensify a broader debate in Thailand over access to firearms, school security and how warning signs involving young people can be identified before violence occurs.