BANGKOK: At least six people were killed and one other person wounded in a mass shooting at a popular fresh food market in Thailand’s capital on Monday (July 28), police said.
The fatalities include the gunman, who took his own life, Charin Gopatta, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, told Reuters.
Four security guards at the Or To Ko market, which sells agricultural produce and local food, were killed by the gunman, as well as a woman, according to the Erawan Emergency Medical Centre that monitors Bangkok hospitals.
“Police are investigating the motive. So far it’s a mass shooting,” Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bangkok’s Bang Sue district, where the incident took place, told AFP.
He said the suspect took his own life after the shooting and police were working to identify him, as well as investigating “for any possible link” to the current border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.
Or Tor Kor Market, where the attack took place, is a short distance from Chatuchak Market, a major tourist destination in Bangkok, which throngs with visitors every weekend.
Mass shootings are common in Thailand, where firearms can be obtained relatively easily due to lax gun control enforcement. - AFP/Reuters
