SONGKHLA: Police are looking for a 25-year-old driver who witnesses said appeared drunk when he fired several shots that killed a man who warned him to drive more carefully late on Monday night.
The victim was later pronounced dead in hospital. A bystander was also wounded and taken to hospital, said Pol Capt Monchai Thanakochan, an investigator at Muang district police station.
The suspected killer was initially identified only as Yingyonng, or Jo, and was a crew member of the TMS 12, a boat that normally takes workers and oil drilling equipment to an offshore rig in the Gulf of Thailand, Pol Capt Monchai said.
The dead man was Thanwa Chamnan, 35. The wounded bystander was being treated at Songkhla Hospital and was known only as Natthawut, he said.
Police were informed about 10.30pm on Monday there had been a shooting at Sirichol wharf on Nakhon Nok Road in Muang district of Songkhla.
Two eyewitnesses said the gunman drove a pickup truck that was taking oil rig workers to the pier. He appeared intoxicated and was driving erratically.
The victim had the nerve to warn him to be careful and avoid running the pickup into someone. This seemed to anger the driver, according to the witnesses, and he produced a gun and shot the man repeatedly before speeding away, Pol Capt Monchai said.
Police found five spent 9mm bullet casings at the scene, he said.
Investigators later visually identified the gunman from security camera footage at the pier and from talking to witnesses.
Police would apply to the court for an arrest warrant for the shooter, he said.
