SAMUT PRAKAN: A passing motorcyclist was killed by a gunshot from an enraged pickup driver who fired a "threatening shot" at the driver of a six-wheel truck in Muang district on Monday night.
Motorcyclist Supakorn Chankhati, 24, was shot in the left side of his head while taking his girlfriend to a hospital, about 7pm on Bang Phli-Tamru Road in tambon Bang Poo Mai.
Rescue workers rushed him to nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his wound.
Pol Col Pisut Chansuwan, chief of Bang Poo police, said CCTV footage led police to arrest Burapa Jiamyu, 26, at a housing estate in Soi Mangkorn Road at 9.30pm on Monday. The man allegedly admitted to the shooting.
Mr Burapa said he had been driving a converted pickup truck used for fish deliveries and had been driven into a rage by the actions of a six-wheel truck driver on Bang Phli-Tamru Road. They had quarrelled at a petrol station. The truck driver had been holding a steel bar but retreated and drove off when Mr Burapa produced a gun.
Police said the pickup driver admitted he had then overtaken and stopped ahead of the six-wheeler, and fired a gunshot.
Mr Burapa said he intended to fire only a threatening shot, but the bullet had hit a passing motorcyclist. He had earlier stolen the gun from a teenage neighbour, and dropped it after the shooting.
The victim's tearful 23-year-old girlfriend Sudarat Singruang said she had a stomachache and Supakorn was taking her to a hospital on his motorbike. She heard a gunshot and Supakorn just collapsed in front of her. Fortunately, she was able to reach around him and control and stop the motorcycle.
She knew of no reason why he would have been shot. They had no conflict with anyone. She also said she saw the accused gunman at the scene.