Eight people, including one with an arrest warrant, were detained on Wednesday for questioning over their alleged involvement in the Nov 11 fatal shooting of a vocational student and a schoolteacher in Klong Toey, police said.
The arrests came almost two weeks after the incident near the Sacred Heart Convent School on Sunthon Kosa Road, where a group of men opened fire at a group of students amid an argument. One shot missed the intended target and struck Sirada Sinprasert, a 45-year-old teacher who was queuing up to use a bank's ATM on Sunthon Kosa Road.
Sirada, who taught at the school, died at the scene, while Thanasorn Hongsawat, 19, the target, was severely wounded and died later in hospital. Police identified five suspects in the shooting and obtained warrants for their arrests. During raids on six locations, including an apartment in Bangkok's Rong Muang area on Wednesday morning, police rounded up eight individuals, including one with an arrest warrant. The other raids were carried out in Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi.
The suspects were taken to the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB). They have denied any involvement in the shooting. "The investigation found their gang works like an organised crime syndicate. They have a leader, and there are 84 gang members who share the same ideals," said Pol Maj Gen Theeradej Thamsuthee, chief of MPB's Investigation Division. Most of the gang members are former vocational students, and they rent houses together, he said.
Pol Lt Gen Thiti Sangsawang, commissioner of MPB, said on Wednesday police were tracking down the remaining suspects and gathering more evidence to identify the shooter.
In another development, another suspect was arrested for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of a teenage vocational college student in Dusit district on Monday.
Thanakorn, 18, was nabbed on Tuesday evening in a public park in Dusit district following the arrest of Akkhapol Sirimekhanont earlier in the day, said Pol Col Traipop Phaetrat, chief of Dusit police station.
Pol Col Traipop said both were sent to Police General Hospital to be examined as police gather forensic evidence. They initially faced charges of conspiracy to murder and illegal possession of firearms.
Mr Akkhapol, he said, admitted that he shot and killed the victim, but it had nothing to do with school rivalry. The suspect's group and the victim were engaged in a brawl in which one of his friends was stabbed, so he fired.
Police from the Scientific Crime Detection Division inspect a vehicle believed to be linked to the case of a teacher killed in Klong Toey district. The escape vehicle was found parked in Sai Noi district of Nonthaburi. (Photo and video: Pornprom Satrabhaya)