At least 36 people, including 22 children and two teachers, were killed when a gunman opened fire at a children’s kindergarten in Thailand on Thursday.

Themass shootingoccurred around 12:30 p.m. local time in rural Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Around12 other people were wounded, reported NBC News, citing the office of Police Gen. Surachete Hakparnwhich. Eight of these are considered serious, NBC added.

The RTP named ex-police officer Panya Khamrab, 34, as thesuspected attacker. He had been fired from the police in 2021 for drug use and attended a court hearing for drug charges before the attack, a police spokesperson told reporters, according to the BBC.

Panya Khamrab.HANDOUT/THAILAND’S CENTRAL INVESTIGATION/AFP via Getty Images

This handout from the Facebook page of Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau shows a picture of former policeman Panya Khamrab, who is believed to have killed at least 30 people in a nursery in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu

Kamrab was armed with a shotgun, a pistol and a knife, the BBC added, per Thailand’s public broadcaster.

He alsomurdered his wife and child before shooting himself, police added Thursday, Reuters reported.

“The shooter came in around lunchtime and shot four or five officials at the childcare center first,” District official Jidapa Boonsom told Reuters about the killings, adding that the victims included a teacher who was 8 months pregnant.

Thai school shooting.HANDOUT/Royal Thai Police/AFP via Getty Images

This handout picture taken and released by the Royal Thai Police on October 6, 2022 shows National Police Chief, Damrongsak Kittiprapat (2R), speaking with a police operation team in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu following an attack on a nursery

“At first people thought it was fireworks,” Lamphu continued to Reuters. She added that around 30 children were at the kindergarten when the gunman arrived.

The youngest victim was said to be 2 years old, NBC News reported.

This frame grab from video footage by Thai PBS made available via AFPTV and taken on October 6, 2022 shows the exterior of a nursery in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu, where a former policeman shot dead at least 30 people

According to the BBC, the gunman opened fire after he arrived at the kindergarten and could not find his child. An eyewitness told Reuters he forced himself into a locked room when children were sleeping and opened fire.

He then drove his vehicle into a crowd of people when he fled, shooting from the driver’s window, added the BBC, citing police spokesman Paisan Luesomboon. He returned home to kill his wife and child.

This frame grab from video footage by Thai PBS made available via AFPTV and taken on October 6, 2022 shows officials outside a nursery in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu, where a former policeman shot dead at least 30 people in a mass shooting

“He intended to crash into others on the road,” eyewitness Paweena Purichan, 31, told the AFP news agency. “The attacker rammed a motorbike and two people were injured. I sped off to get away from him.”

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Purichan added to the outlet that the gunman was a well-known drug addict.

While gun ownership is high in Thailand, mass shootings are rare. Its last major incident was in 2020 when a soldier killed 29 and wounded 57 after a property deal went sour.

source: people.com