Thai teenager charged with murder over Bangkok mall shooting

BANGKOK: Thai authorities charged a 14-year-old boy with premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm on Wednesday (Oct 4) after a shooting spree at a Bangkok mall using what police said was a modified pistol intended to fire blanks.

Two people were killed and five wounded in the shooting at Siam Paragon shopping centre on Tuesday, the latest gun violence to shock Thailand in the past three years. 

The suspect had suffered a psychological breakdown in the run-up to the shooting, police said. But a court turned down a police request to detain the teenager at a mental health facility and ordered him into juvenile detention instead, according to a court document seen by Reuters. 

He faces five charges including illegal possession of a firearm, the illegal carrying of a firearm in public and illegal discharge of a firearm in public, Major General Nakarin Sukhontawit told Reuters.

The shooting spree erupted late on Tuesday afternoon at the upmarket mall in Bangkok’s bustling commercial heart, sending hundreds of panicked shoppers racing to the exits, some screaming as gunshots rang out. 

A Chinese and Myanmar national were killed. 

The suspect surrendered after police cornered him in a designer furniture shop.