Three killed in mall shooting

Running to safety: People leaving the shopping centre in Bangkok following the shooting incident. — AP

Three people were killed and four wounded in a shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall, with the shooter arrested by police.

Multiple videos circulating on social media showed people running from the Siam Paragon mall, one of the Thai capital’s top shopping destinations, which is hugely popular with tourists and locals alike.

Yuthana Srettanan, director of the Erawan Emergency Center, said three people were killed and four wounded in the incident, in a message sent to reporters.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters the attacker had been apprehended and the situation brought under control.

“Police are clearing the scene. The situation is easing,” Srettha told reporters.

Thai police said they had arrested a 14-year-old suspected gunman.

The Metropolitan Police Detective Department said on its Facebook page that a 14-year-old suspected gunman had been arrested and was being questioned over the incident.

Emergency services shared an image of a police officer apprehending and handcuffing an individual laying face down on the floor.

The Central Investigation Bureau had earlier posted a grainy image on its Facebook page of an individual they said was the gunman, dressed in khaki cargo pants and a baseball cap.

Unverified videos on social media showed scenes of chaos, with people, including children, running out of the doors of the mall while security guards ushered them out.

One of the videos showed people taking cover in a darkened room inside a restaurant, while live television showed long queues of traffic outside the mall in torrential rain.

Dozens of police vehicles and a number of ambulances could be seen outside one of the shopping centre’s main entrances.

People were still being escorted from the mall, while bystanders could be seen walking past along the gridlocked road outside.

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. — Agencies