School shooting near Bangkok kills at least 8, including five staff and girl who died in hospital

A 14-year-old opened fire at a school outside Bangkok on Friday, killing at least eight people, according to CBS News. A 12-year-old girl who sustained critical wounds died after hospitalization, bringing the death toll from the attack to at least eight.

The shooting occurred at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of the Thai capital around 10 a.m. on Friday, per CBS News. Five school staff members, including teachers and administrators, died in the shooting. The shooter also appeared to have killed his two grandparents at his family home earlier in the morning. After the school attack, the boy took his own life, according to CBS News.

Bangyai Hospital, about 3 miles from the school, said 23 people were wounded, of whom 10 were in critical condition, with most suffering gunshot wounds. Fourteen people remained hospitalized as of Saturday, of whom seven remained in critical condition, according to Thailand's Health Ministry. Most of those wounded were between 12 and 14 years old.

The gun, described as small and compact, was legally registered to the boy's grandfather, per CBS News. The sources report that there were reports the boy, who lived with his grandparents, had shown signs of school-related stress, although some of his relatives told Thai media they were unaware of any troubles he might have been facing.

A witness said students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building, according to CBS News. The co-educational state school, which has about 3,000 students enrolled aged 12 to 18, said all classes would be suspended between August 10-14 and school staff were instructed to work from home during that time.

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia, second only to Pakistan and far surpassing its Southeast Asian neighbors, per CBS News. Civilian gun ownership in Thailand was about 15.1 guns per 100 people, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia, according to data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org, as reported by CBS News. Thailand had 3.49 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people, according to 2023 statistics published by World Population Review. Only the Philippines is higher in Southeast Asia for firearms deaths per 100,000 people.