Teenager kills grandparents, students and teachers at school in Thailand

The school is in the Nonthaburi region, neighboring the capital. Among the dead were three students and three teachers, as well as two grandparents. Police also reported that at least 23 people were injured in the incident.

The person responsible for the shooting was identified as a 14-year-old student at the institution. He killed his own grandparents before heading to school, where he allegedly shot at least 26 times with a gun that belonged to his grandfather. Another 34 ammunition were found at the scene, according to police.

"It's a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?" Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at government headquarters in Bangkok. "I feel sad for those who died and to see something like this happen in our country."

After the tragedy, parents rushed to the scene to pick up their children, while students and staff consoled each other outside.

"I heard a lot of shots, very loud, because it seemed like the shooter was on the floor right above. I could even hear the cartridges hitting the floor and the noise of metal," said student Pawarisa Maylissa. "I don't know the suspect, but I know he's a little younger than me. I can't believe a kid like him had access to a gun."

Thailand has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the region, with an estimate of around 10 million weapons in circulation, that is, one for every seven inhabitants. Previous promises to tighten gun laws have not prevented shootings from continuing to occur frequently.

This is the second school shooting in Thailand this year; in February, a teacher died and two students were injured in an incident in the south of the country. In that case, Thai police shot and detained the teenager, who used a police officer's gun in the shooting.

Years earlier, in 2022, a former police officer armed with a pistol and a knife invaded a daycare center in the north of the country and killed 24 children and 12 adults, in one of Thailand's most horrific massacres.

In this Friday's case, rescuer Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, 47, described arriving at the scene while the attack was still taking place. According to him, his team treated students with injuries to their backs, chests and arms. They found a teacher dead on an upper floor of the school and, in another room, a teacher with injuries to her chest and arm.

He reported being called to assist the teenage shooter after hearing one last shot. "We rushed to the scene and discovered that the perpetrator had shot himself in the head, on the right side, and fell. When we arrived, we checked his pulse; there were still beats, so we started CPR."

As of the 2025 school year, the school has about 3,100 students and 147 teachers, according to district officials.