Trang man kills self 9 hours after shooting dead his 4 children

TRANG — The man who shot dead his four young children at their home in Palian district on Monday morning turned the gun on himself after a nine-hour standoff with police.

Pornpichit Yongstar shot himself in the right temple at 5.30pm with a 22-calibre pistol. The end to the siege came when 20 commandos from Provincial Police Region 1 were surrounded and approached him. Hundreds of bystanders were forced away from the scene.

The 40-year-old father died while being transported to Palian hospital.

The commandoes were called in after Pornpichit hid in an elevated shack behind his home in Moo 2 village of tambon Thakham since 8am and refused to lay down his weapon.

Police commandos moves in on the suspect’s hideaway. (Photo by Methee Muangkaew)

Pol Maj Gen Daoloy Muangdej, chief of Trang police, said a preliminary investigation concluded that Pornpichit killed his children -- ages 3, 7, 12 an 14 -- out of stress over separating from his wife, Supattra Kemkhao, 38.

Somchai Thaihuan, the kamnan of tambon Thakham, told police that Pornpichit had separated from Supattra after the two had frequently quarrelled. She had moved out to stay with a new partner in the same district.

He returned home from work in another province on Sunday and tried to reunite with his wife. Mrs Supattra refused to get back together, leading to a heated quarrel on Sunday night.

It was believed Pornpichit went berserk and shot dead his two daughters, aged 14 and 7, and two sons, aged 12 and 3, while they were sleeping. Police said neighbours heard sound like gunshots around 2am, but paid no further attention. A neighbour alerted police about 8.30am after he visited the suspect's home and found bodies of the children in a bedroom.

Police said Pornpichit asked for a glass of water after the first five hours of negotiations failed. They dissolved sleeping pills in the water but the suspect did not drink it when he was handed with the glass of water.   

At 2.30pm, Pornpichit asked police to bring his wife but officials denied the request as they feared he would shoot at her and then kill himself.  

Police found a gun in the bedroom where the children's bodies were found.