Police in Thailand arrested a 14-year-old after a shooting at a shopping mall in the capital Bangkok on Tuesday left at least three people dead and four others injured.
Local authorities held the suspect with a weapon, and are assessing exact casualties, Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau said.
The shooting took place around 5 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) at the Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok, Police Colonel Noppadol Thiammekha, Pathum Wan Police Chief said.
Thai prime minister, Srettha Thavisin sent his “deepest condolences” to the families of those who have died or been injured.
Posting on X, Srettha Thavisin writes: “Police officers quickly entered the area.”
He says he received a police report confirming that the suspect was arrested.
“But I still want to ask about security,” he adds, “and facilitating people to return home safely as well.”
Gun ownership in Southeast Asian countries is high compared with other countries in the region.
More than 10.3 million civilians held firearms in Thailand, or around 15 guns for every 100 people, 2017 data from the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey (SAS).
About 6.2 million of those guns are legally registered, according to SAS.
Thailand tallies the second-highest gun homicides after the Philippines in Southeast Asia, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s 2019 Global Burden of Disease database.
But mass shootings in the country are rare. In October 2022, at least 36 people were killed in a gun and knife attack at a childcare center in northeastern Thailand.
The massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu province was believed to be the country’s deadliest incident of its kind.
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