Police say they will renew their investigation of the 14-year-old boy they arrested for the Siam Paragon shootings that left three people dead, after prosecutors rejected their original report.
Prosecutors handling the case on Thursday returned a police summary report, citing the lack of a clear assessment of the teenager’s mental health by doctors, said Pol Col Jiraphat Promsithikarn, deputy commander of Metropolitan Police Division 6.
He said the report outlined the charges against the boy in connection with the Oct 3 shootings. They included premeditated murder, possession of a firearm, and bringing and using a firearm to a public place without permission.
Before laying the charges, police investigators obtained permission from doctors at the Galya Rajanagarindra Institute to interview the teen in their care on Oct 27. During the interview, the police were accompanied by welfare officials, a psychiatrist and a lawyer. The boy was able to respond to all of the questions. When asked about the shooting, he said only that he could not remember it, said Pol Col Jiraphat.
In the opinion of the police investigators, the boy was sufficiently aware of what was happening to fight the case. They subsequently prepared the summary report and sent it to the prosecutors at the Youth and Families Division 3 of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
However, the OAG noted that police then proceeded to press the charges on Nov 3 even though the institute had not released its assessment, said deputy spokesman Naken Thongpraiwan. They also failed to discuss the shooter’s mental condition with doctors beforehand, he added.
The institute’s assessment, released later on Nov 21, suggested the suspect could not understand the charges, communicate adequately, or control his emotions. Prosecutors said this rendered the investigation unlawful under Sections 14 and 134 of the Criminal Procedure Code and Section 6 of the Juvenile and Family Court and Procedure Act, Mr Naken said.
Responding to reports that the boy might be released from the psychiatric hospital by Dec 31 if police cannot submit their report to the prosecutors, Pol Col Jiraphat said investigators would ask the institution to continue keeping him for treatment until he was considered to have the ability to fight the case.
“On Jan 11 the team of doctors handling the boy’s treatment will meet again, so the investigators will have to wait for the the result,” he said. ”If the doctors and other officials concerned reach a conclusion that the boy is able to fight the case, the investigators would then renew the investigation.”
In the shooting at Siam Paragon on Oct 3, three people — a Thai woman, a Myanmar woman who worked at the shopping complex and a Chinese female tourist — were killed. Four others, including a Chinese tourist and a Lao worker, were injured. The teenager was arrested at the mall shortly afterward.