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Thailand School Hostage Crisis: Machine Gun Attack Shocks Nation
11 Feb
Summary
- An 18-year-old gunman used a machine gun at a Thai school.
- Teachers and students were taken hostage after the principal was shot.
- The incident occurred at Patong Prathan Kiriwat School in Songkhla province.
A harrowing incident occurred today at Patong Prathan Kiriwat School in Thailand's Songkhla province, near the Malaysian border. An 18-year-old gunman, believed to have been behaving erratically and threatening his mother, entered the school with an M4 submachine gun.
He opened fire, seriously injuring the school principal and taking a teacher and several students hostage. Some reports suggest a security guard was grazed by a bullet while escaping and confirmed the principal was shot. Hundreds of students fled the school grounds shortly after lessons concluded.
Police in the Hat Yai and Thung Lung districts are on the scene, working to negotiate with the gunman and ensure the safety of those inside. The exact number of injured individuals is currently unknown.
