One of the worst massacres in Thailand’s history happened yesterday at a daycare facility in northern Thailand. The blood of young children still ingrained into the floors of the classroom the next day, from what could be the most unimaginable experience a parent could ever go through.
What we know:
The children were of the ages 2-5 and lost their lives during nap time. It was on Thursday when a former Thai police officer armed with a handgun and a knife, killed all the children while they slept. Over 20 students were murdered.
It’s speculated that the reason for the shooting is the gunman had just lost his job and there was a dispute with another soldier over the commission on a piece of land that was sold. At the moment no one is sure what his motive was.
What happened after:
The shooter, Panya Kamrab then drove home and killed his family. Shot his wife and his child, then took his own life. A total of 36 people were murdered by Kamrab yesterday, and 24 of the 36 were all little children.
Authorities say Kamrab appeared in court earlier that morning on drug charges. Officials are performing blood tests on the shooter to see if there were drugs in his system.
“Regarding the motivation, the police have not ruled out any possibilities, it could be from personal stress, or a hallucination from drugs, we have ordered a blood test,” Royal Thai Police said in a statement.
A surprising tragedy:
A staff member at the day center said they saw Kamrab around noon while they were having lunch. They heard the gunfire and saw two of their co-workers drop to the floor. “Then he pulled another gun from his waist…I didn’t expect he would also kill the kids,” they said.
A majority of the deaths were mainly from the “stabbing wounds,” stated chief of police General Paisan Luesomboon as told to CNN. First responders also on the scene said most of the murders were from direct injuries to the head.