A 16-year-old gunman, apparently seeking revenge for the shooting of a friend, opened fire at a makeshift shelter behind a house in Thung Song district of Nakhon Si Thammarat on Monday night, resulting in one death and three injuries, police said.
Police at the Kapang station were alerted of the shooting in the Ban Kong Sai community in tambon Thi Wang at around 6.30am on Tuesday.
Upon arrival, police, medical and rescue personnel found a man identified only as Phuwarat, 23, lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to his head inside the shelter. The victim had died on the spot.
The injured were identified as Pat, 17, who sustained a gunshot wound to the hip, 20-year-old Pisit, who was shot in the leg, and Tawatchai, 22, who was shot in the arm. They were taken to Thung Song Hospital.
Several 9mm bullet casings were found at the scene.
The initial investigation found that the victims were resting in the shelter when two men on a motorcycle arrived in the middle of the night. One person remained with the bike while the other, armed with a 9mm pistol, entered the shelter, firing indiscriminately before fleeing the scene.
During questioning, the deceased’s girlfriend told investigators that he had mentioned a looming threat of an attack in a recent chat conversation but did not provide details.
Later on Tuesday, police apprehended a 16-year-old Mathayom 5 (Grade 11) student, and seized a 9mm pistol believed to be the weapon used in the shooting.
Further investigation uncovered a long-standing feud between the two groups, which escalated from social media disputes to gun attacks.
The incident was believed to be retribution following an earlier shooting in which a 15-year-old friend of the assailants was injured, police said.
Authorities are still looking for the remaining suspect.
The 16-year-old gunman is taken in for questioning at the Kapang police station in Nakhon Si Thammarat. (Photo: Nujaree Raekrun)