Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy after gunshots were fired in a luxury Thailand shopping mall, killing at least three people.
The schoolboy opened fire with a Glock 19 handgun inside the Siam Paragon building in the centre of the Thai capital shortly after 4pm local time.
At least four injured people were seen being carried from the mall shortly after. Police later said that at least three people had died.
Hundreds of terrified shoppers were earlier seen fleeing in panic as police raced to the scene at the Siam Paragon mall in central Bangkok after hearing gunshot-like noises.
Unverified videos shared on social media showed people, including children, running out of the doors of the Siam Paragon mall as security guards ushered them out.
The alleged gunman is purportedly seen being detained by police after opening fire at a Bangkok mall
CCTV images of a suspected gunman who has injured at least three people at an upmarket shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand
One of the videos showed people taking cover in a darkened room inside a restaurant. The authenticity of the videos could not immediately be verified.
Local broadcaster Channel 3 reported sounds similar to gunfire were heard inside, coming from a bathroom in the mall.
A major nearby transit stop was shut down by officials as the evening rush hour began and intense rain pounded through city.
Following the initial reports of gunshots, first responders could be seen entering the mall as sirens wailed outside.
Witnesses said crowds of people left the building, one of several shopping centers in the area popular with tourists and well-heeled Thais alike.
One witness who was inside the mall, a Chinese tourist named Liu Shiying, told the AP that she saw people running and saying someone had opened fire. She said an alarm rang out inside the mall and the lights went out. She is still taking cover inside the mall.
‘We’re temporarily hiding. Who dares to go out?’
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters he was waiting details of the incident.
Srettha told reporters he did not yet know about casualties, but that the national police chief had been dispatched to the scene.
An ambulance arrives at Siam Paragon mall in downtown Bangkok on October 3, 2023. Hundreds of people fled a shooting incident at the shopping mall in downtown Bangkok
Siam Paragon shopping centre is seen empty after people were evacuated from it in Bangkok
A general view shows Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok today with the lights out in the mall after a shooting incident in the building
Police spokesperson Achayon Kraithong said the national police chief had ordered and dispatched officers to control the area to resolve the situation. Television showed long queues of traffic outside the mall in torrential rain.
Police and mall officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The shooting comes just days before the one-year anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in recent Thai history, when an ex-police officer armed with a knife and gun attacked a nursery, murdering 24 children and 12 adults.
Thailand has high rates of gun ownership and has a long and violent history of firearm incidents, both small and large.
In 2020, a former army officer went on a rampage in a shopping mall in Korat, murdering 29 people and wounding scores more.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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