BANGKOK — A Thai soldier shot and killed at least 20 people Saturday in northeast Thailand, sheltering in a shopping mall for more than nine hours after the attack first began, police in Thailand told NBC News.
Of the 20 who are dead, 16 died on the spot, Thailand’s Ministry of Health announced. Another 31 were injured, with four undergoing emergency surgery and another six placed in intensive care.
The suspect, Sgt. Jakrapanth Thomma, initially shot and killed another soldier and a woman at a military barracks in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said. A third person was also wounded in that incident.
Investigators believe a dispute over a land deal payment may have sparked the shooting, Phathanacharoen added.
Thomma escaped in a military Humvee and opened fire at a number of different locations in the city, police said. He then holed up in a shopping mall and is yet to be apprehended.
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“We don’t know why he did this. It appears he went mad,” defense ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit said.
Defense ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanich added that police and military units had locked down the mall and the surrounding area.
Video taken outside the mall and shared on social media showed people taking cover in a parking lot as gunshots were fired. Authorities continued to try to arrest the gunman and rescue shoppers inside as the time pushed into Sunday morning in Thailand.
From within the mall, Thomma taunted police and the internet as he intermittently posted photos of himself holding various weapons or shared memes with threatening messages on his Facebook page. His account was eventually removed by the social media company.
“There is no place on Facebook for people who commit this kind of atrocity, nor do we allow people to praise or support this attack,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Thailand’s minister of public health said his agency had brought together more than 100 doctors and nurses to help the injured. He said they have 1,700 units of blood.
“I’ve made sure that all medical staff and units are trying their best to help those injured. I urge the public to not share photos of the incident and refrain from commenting,” Minister of Health Anutin Charnvirakul said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department put out a warning of an active shooter at a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, and advising to avoid the area.
The incident comes just a month after another high-profile mall shooting, in the central Thai city of Lopburi. In that case, a masked gunman carrying a handgun with a silencer killed three people, including a 2-year-old boy, and wounded four others as he robbed a jewelry store.
A suspect, a school director, was arrested less than two weeks later and reportedly confessed, saying he did not mean to shoot anyone.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Nat Sumon reported from Bangkok, Isobel van Hagen reported from London, and Phil McCausland reported from New York.
Reuters contributed.
