Police have arrested a gunman who seriously wounded a school director and injured two students before taking hostages in Hat Yai district of Songkhla on Wednesday afternoon.
The 18-year-old assailant was shot and wounded to bring an end to the hostage drama that followed his initial assault on Phatong Prathan Keeriwat School.
Local media reports said that earlier, police had responded to a call about an 18-year-old male who was behaving violently and attempting to harm his mother at a house near the school.
While officers were attempting to defuse the situation, the suspect reportedly seized an M4 rifle from police. He then fled into the school grounds at 4.45pm, in tambon Phatong.
The suspect entered the school in “an agitated state while carrying a gun”, the Songkhla provincial government said in a statement.
Shots rang out in one of the classroom buildings, causing panic among teachers and students. The assailant then took a female teacher hostage.
The female school director, who was shot in the chest and torso, underwent surgery and was in the intensive-care unit at Hat Yai Hospital.
A 14-year-old female student, who was shot in the abdomen, also underwent surgery. Another girl fell from a height and was treated for an ankle injury.
Police units and special operations officers quickly cordoned off the area, evacuated people to safety and began efforts to negotiate with the gunman.
Local media reports quoted witnesses as saying the gunman had been seeking a teacher who had previously disciplined his younger sister, a student at the school. He had reportedly threatened violence if the teacher did not meet him.
