BANGKOK, Aug 10 — A former Thai MP has surrendered to police after allegedly approaching a senior local government official’s car, knocking on the window and shooting him four times outside government offices in Nonthaburi today.
Thai media reported that Chalong Riewrang, a former MP for Nonthaburi, allegedly opened fire on Pol Col Thongchai Yenprasert, president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO), as he was preparing to leave the organisation’s headquarters in Muang district.
Chalong allegedly approached Thongchai’s vehicle and knocked on the window. When Thongchai lowered it to speak to him, the former lawmaker opened fire, according to Thai media reports.
Thongchai was struck four times, while his driver was also hit by a bullet.
Emergency workers performed CPR at the scene before both men were taken to Phra Nang Klao Hospital for treatment.
The shooting occurred at about 11.29am local time.
Chalong later surrendered to police.
Officers were gathering evidence and questioning witnesses as they sought to establish a motive for the attack.
Preliminary reports in Thai media have suggested the shooting may have involved a dispute over an 11-million-baht debt, although police have yet to confirm the motive.
The attack comes just days after Nonthaburi was shaken by a mass shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, where a 14-year-old student killed six people before turning the gun on himself.
Police said the teenager had earlier allegedly shot dead his grandparents at their home before travelling to the school.
The two shooting sites are about seven miles apart in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok. Authorities have given no indication that the incidents are connected.
Friday’s school attack, Thailand’s worst mass killing in nearly four years, had already led to heightened security in the province.
Investigators said the teenage gunman appeared to have developed an interest in firearms and had been learning how to use them online.
“According to witness interviews, the perpetrator had begun showing interest in studying the use of firearms for some time, about one to two years,” police said.
Authorities also said a teacher had confiscated a BB gun from the boy last year after he brought it to school.
Monday’s shooting has brought another burst of gun violence to Nonthaburi while the province is still grappling with the aftermath of Friday’s killings.
