NARATHIWAT: A couple were killed in a drive-by shooting before two attackers fled with their motorcycle in Rangae district on Saturday morning. Authorities feared the bike might be used for a possible motorcycle bomb.
The fatal shooting occurred on Huruparoh-Chalabhorn Road in tambon Tanyongmas, said Pol Lt Col Woraphon Sukkaew, investigation chief at the Rangae police station, who was alerted at 7.10am.
Police, soldiers and forensic officers who rushed to the scene found the bodies of two people lying dead on the road with bullet wounds.
Paisarn Chungsakul, 65, of Cho Airong district, had been hit in the chest and left rib while his wife Sumon Chungsakul, 58, was shot in the head and chest. Officers found four spent 9mm cartridges scattered on the road.
A police investigation found that Mr Paisarn and his wife had travelled from their home in Cho Airong district to the Tanyongmas market in nearby Rangae earlier in the day. As they rode back home, they were followed by two men travelling on a motorcycle. The pillion rider fired shots at them and then fled with the couple’s bike.
Pol Maj Gen Dutsadee Chusangkit, chief of the Narathiwat police, ordered stations in all 13 districts to stay alert as the stolen bike might be used for a bomb. Road checkpoints were set up along the escape route in hope of catching the suspects.