Gunman who wounded 2 women in Pattaya caught

CHON BURI: A gunman who opened fire on a car in Pattaya and injured two women has been arrested in Sukhothai, police said on Friday evening.

Nopporn “Benz” Inpom, 29, was arrested at a house in the lower northern province on Friday afternoon. Police seized a Honda Jazz car with Bangkok licence plates and a 9mm Glock handgun from the suspect, said Pol Col Thanapong Photi, the Pattaya police chief.

The suspect was being taken to Pattaya police station to answer charges in connection with the offence.

A Thai woman and a Chinese woman were wounded in the gun attack on their car in the resort city in the early hours of Friday. Police believe they had been were wrongly targeted.

The attack occurred at the entrance of Soi Chalernprakiat 4/1 in Bang Lamung district, said Pol Col Thanapong, who was alerted around 2.10am.

Upon arriving at the scene, police and forensic officers found a black Mercedes-Benz with Bangkok licence plates parked there with traces of bullets on its doors, side mirrors and body. The officers also found bloodstains inside the car and on the road surface.

Six cartridges and a bullet were also found inside the car. The two wounded women had been taken to Pattaya Memorial Hospital before the officers arrived.

One of the victims, Nippawan Wola, 26, sustained a gunshot wound through both cheeks, while the other victim, Li Xinying, 24, was shot in the left wrist.

Employees at Ying Club, a nearby pub, told police that a group of teenagers had quarrelled with some South Korean tourists inside the venue before the shooting. The employees had intervened during the altercation.

After the pub closed around 2am, a car carrying the Koreans involved in the quarrel and another car carrying the two women left the venue and went in separate directions. The teenagers also drove off and headed in the same direction as the victims’ car. Several rounds of gunfire were then heard.

Police suspected that the attackers might have mistakenly targeted the victims’ car. Teams of officers examined video from surveillance cameras to track down the vehicle used by the suspected shooter.

Police and forensic officers inspect the scene of the gun attack in Pattaya early Friday. (Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)

A 9mm Glock handgun and ammunition were seized from are seized from suspect Nopporn Inpom following his arrest in connection with the Pattaya shooting. (Photo supplied: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)