NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A gunsmith who narrowly escaped before police raided his rented house on Wednesday returned to his premises prepared to surrender, but ended up shooting himself dead instead.
Weerayut Pantharangsi, 32, was found dead inside his house-cum-factory at the Kan Kheha 2 housing estate in Muang district on Thursday.
Pol Maj Gen Somchai Suetortrakul, the Nakhon Si Thammarat police chief, led officers to inspect the scene at about 1pm.
The house was firmly locked from inside. On entering the house, the officers found Weerayut lying in a pool of blood near the door. He had a gunshot wound to his head and a pistol in his right hand.
His family and relatives told police that Weerayut had contacted them about his plan to surrender after fleeing his house before it was raided by police on Wednesday as part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal guns.
According to the relatives, he told them that he wanted to surrender as he did not want his family to be in trouble. They believe he might have decided to end his life on Thursday because of stress over pending legal action in connection with gun production. He also suffered from psoriasis, a skin disorder.
When police raided Weerayut’s house on Wednesday, they found a sophisticated surveillance system that allowed him to detect their arrival so that he could flee.
Police also found a well-equipped workshop in the house, with electric and manual tooling machinery, many homemade gun barrels and replica guns, including assault rifles.
Police examine the body of Weerayut Pantharangsi, a gunsmith who was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head inside a house in Nakhon Si Thammarat. (Photo: Nujaree Rakrun)
Pol Maj Gen Somchai said the suspect phoned police via hotline 191 around 9.45am on Thursday to say he would surrender at the house.
Investigators went there, accompanied by the suspect’s mother La-or Pantharangsi, around 12.45pm. The house was locked. His mother knocked on the door and called her son several times but there was no response. She then asked police to break open the door and found her son lying dead.
Earlier, police arrested two men — Anuwat Sribua and Jinnawat Promkarn — linked to Weerayut’s illegal gun trade.
Mr Anuwat had been hired by the gunsmith for 1,500 baht to open a bank account to receive money transfers while Mr Jinnawat was tasked with delivering parcels and received 300 to 500 baht each time.
According to police, Weerayut had been jailed three times for drugs and weapons offences. At the time of his death, he was selling illegal guns online.