Teen held on shopping mall murder charges
published : 5 Oct 2023 at 08:18
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters and Agencies
A 14-year-old boy facing murder and other charges in connection with the Siam Paragon shootings has been remanded to a juvenile detention centre where he will undergo a psychiatric assessment.
The teen, heavily guarded by police and his face covered to protect his identity, appeared on Wednesday in Juvenile Court, a day after a shooting spree at the Bangkok shopping mall left two people dead and five others wounded.
Police who arrested the teen on Tuesday said he was “confused” and that he said he had heard voices telling him to shoot people.
Investigators have initially pressed five charges against the boy: premeditated murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, illegally carrying a weapon, and firing shots in a public place.
Investigators were also considering whether the boy’s parents should be charged under the Child Protection Act. They did not go to the court on Wednesday to apply for bail for their son.
The boy was arrested shortly after a young gunman went on a shooting spree inside Siam Paragon in Pathumwan district just before the evening peak hours on Tuesday. Two foreign women were killed: a 34-year-old from China who was shopping with her daughters, and a young woman from Myanmar who worked at the mall. Five people — three Thais, a Chinese and a Lao — were wounded, two of them critically. Shoppers fled from the mall in panic.
The head of the Department of Medical Services said on Wednesday that the young suspect had been treated about one year ago at The Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, but didn't give further details.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday promised “preventive measures” after the shooting at the mall.
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Vocabulary
- ammunition: bullets, bombs, etc that can be fired from a weapon - อาวุธยุทธภัณฑ์, ลูกกระสุน
- bail: money that is given to a court when someone is allowed to stay out of prison until their trial. If they do not return for the trial, the court keeps the money - เงินประกัน; การประกันตัว
- charge : an official statement accusing someone of committing a crime - ข้อกล่าวหา
- confused: unable to understand something or think clearly about it - สับสน
- critically: (of a bad situation) very serious or dangerous อย่างรุนแรง อย่างวิกฤต -
- detention centre: a place where people who have committed offences are kept in detention - สถานกักกัน
- firearm: a gun of some type - อาวุธปืน
- guard: to watch a place carefully to protect someone from attack, to prevent something from being stolen, or to prevent someone from escaping - เฝ้ายาม, ดูแล, รักษาความปลอดภัย
- identity: who or what somebody/something is - ชื่อ เอกลักษณ์
- juvenile (noun): a young person/animal who is not yet an adult - เยาวชน
- possession: having or owning something - การครอบครอง
- premeditated: planned in advance - คาดคิดมาก่อน
- preventive measure: an action which is intended to try to stop something that causes problems or difficulties from happening - มาตรการป้องกัน
- psychiatric: connected with the treatment of mental illness - เกี่ยวกับจิตวิทยา
- remand: to send somebody away from a court to wait for their trial which will take place at a later date - ส่งกลับไปคุมขังระหว่างรอการพิจารณาคดี
- spree (noun): a period of time when you do a lot of some activity -- good, such as eating or shopping or bad, such as killing -
- suspect: a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย
- weapon: an object such as a knife, gun, bomb, etc. that is used for fighting or attacking somebody - อาวุธ
- wounded: injured, especially where your skin or flesh is damaged, usually seriously - บาดเจ็บ