ROI ET: A 14-year-old schoolgirl was stabbed to death in front of shocked students and teachers in Muang district on Friday morning by a male relative who had just got out of prison, police say.
The crime happened in front of Ban Lao Witthayakan School in tambon Nong Kaeo at about 8am. The attacker was a man who had followed the victim’s school bus on his motorcycle.
When the bus stopped in front of the school, he got on the vehicle and stabbed the girl once with a kitchen knife. He then dragged her off the bus, sat on her and stabbed her twice more.
Teachers arrested the man at the scene. The girl was later pronounced dead at Roi Et Hospital.
Pol Capt Sanchart Sawatpol of the Muang Roi Et station identified the 36-year-old attacker as Preecha Waisorn. He said the girl had been stabbed in the neck and chest.
The suspect had conflicts with the girl’s parents and had a record of mental illness, according to Pol Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong, a spokesman for the Royal Thai Police Office.
Laddawan Suebjit, director of the school, said the incident happened very fast. The man rushed onto the bus as soon as it had stopped and while teachers were welcoming arriving students to the school.
She closed the school on Friday as everyone there was shocked. School officials also plan to review security measures.
Eyewitnesses said the attacker shouted that he would kill all members of the girl’s family.
Police said the attacker had just been freed from jail three days ago. They did not elaborate on his criminal record.