https://twitter.com/i/status/1226138623491395584
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The author, a low-ranking military, broadcasts live the killing on his Facebook account.
"Death is inevitable for everyone," Jakraphanth Thomma, a 32-year-old Thai soldier , warned on Saturday . Hours later, he recorded the macabre intention of his words: the young man shot dead his superior at a military base on the outskirts of Nakhon Ratchasima, a city east of Thailand , stole ammunition, weapons and a military vehicle and was available to shoot indiscriminately in the city. Suspected of killing at least 20 people, the military was broadcasting his assaults through Facebook Live and remains inside a hostage mall.
Jakraphanth Thomma has entered the list of most wanted people in Thailand. "This man uses one or more weapons and has killed and injured many people," the Crime Suppression Division of the Asian country has warned on his Twitter account. Thai authorities have surrounded the shopping center where it is located, Terminal 21, and have established a security perimeter of two kilometers around it. Army assault teams continue trying to capture the soldier in the early hours of Sunday, more than ten hours after the shootings began.
It all started when, at around 3.30 pm local time (eight hours less in peninsular Spain), the soldier shot his superior, Colonel Anantharot Krasae, a 63-year-old woman and another soldier at the Surathampithak military base. He then stole ammunition, an assault rifle, other weapons and a Humvee, a military vehicle, and fled. The young man continued shooting civilians on his way from the base to the Terminal 21 shopping center, where images from security cameras record how he arrives at six in the afternoon and starts shooting.
According to the Thai press, a hundred people who were in the mall have been rescued. Images showing groups of people fleeing in terror from the property have been disclosed by local media. The situation keeps the city citizens of 166,000 inhabitants and better known as Korat in suspense, whom police spokeswoman Krissana Pattanacharoen has urged to stay in their homes. The police have placed part of their hopes in the mother of the suspect, whom he moves from the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum to the scene of the incident so that he persuades his son to surrender. The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, General Kongcheep Tantrawanit, confirmed late on Saturday that at least 20 people have died, but did not specify the number of injured.
While following the emergency device, the Army has asked the media not to report live on the operation to avoid giving the soldier clues about his plans. A silence that contrasts especially with the sordid publicity that Jakraphanth himself had given before: the military man was broadcasting his acts live through Facebook Live, whose account was later deactivated by the social network.
"I'm so tired," he said, looking at the camera at 7:20 p.m. local time, dressed in camouflage clothing and with his head covered by a helmet. "Should I give up?" He had posted a few minutes earlier on Facebook. In this social network he had made clear this Saturday his discontent with the Thai regime. "Be enriched by corruption and take advantage of others, do you think they will take the money to spend it in hell?" He snapped.
The Army continues to play a key role in Thailand, with General Prayut Chan-ocha invested prime minister in July last year , after his party, the promilitar Palang Pracharat, won the March 2019 elections in number of votes, but No of seats. The country had not held elections since 2014, when being head of the Prayut Army gave a bloody coup after months of anti-government demonstrations. While the Thai prime minister today conveyed his condolences to the families of those killed, the authorities have avoided referring to the possible motives for the crimes committed by the soldier.
Thailand is one of the countries with the highest number of weapons, with more than 10 million between legal and illegal and an average of fifteen per hundred people, according to the Gun Policy organization. However, assaults with firearms are not common, except in the south, the scene of a separatist conflict for decades. The country ranks eleventh on the list of countries with the most gun deaths, led by Brazil, the United States and India, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), of the University of Washington.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2020/02/08/actualidad/1581165090_470857.html
*The author, a low-ranking military, broadcasts live the killing on his Facebook account.*
"Death is inevitable for everyone," Jakraphanth Thomma, a 32-year-old Thai soldier , warned on Saturday . Hours later, he recorded the macabre intention of his words: the young man shot dead his superior at a military base on the outskirts of Nakhon Ratchasima, a city east of Thailand , stole ammunition, weapons and a military vehicle and was available to shoot indiscriminately in the city. Suspected of killing at least 20 people, the military was broadcasting his assaults through Facebook Live and remains inside a hostage mall.
Jakraphanth Thomma has entered the list of most wanted people in Thailand. "This man uses one or more weapons and has killed and injured many people," the Crime Suppression Division of the Asian country has warned on his Twitter account. Thai authorities have surrounded the shopping center where it is located, Terminal 21, and have established a security perimeter of two kilometers around it. Army assault teams continue trying to capture the soldier in the early hours of Sunday, more than ten hours after the shootings began.
It all started when, at around 3.30 pm local time (eight hours less in peninsular Spain), the soldier shot his superior, Colonel Anantharot Krasae, a 63-year-old woman and another soldier at the Surathampithak military base. He then stole ammunition, an assault rifle, other weapons and a Humvee, a military vehicle, and fled. The young man continued shooting civilians on his way from the base to the Terminal 21 shopping center, where images from security cameras record how he arrives at six in the afternoon and starts shooting.
According to the Thai press, a hundred people who were in the mall have been rescued. Images showing groups of people fleeing in terror from the property have been disclosed by local media. The situation keeps the city citizens of 166,000 inhabitants and better known as Korat in suspense, whom police spokeswoman Krissana Pattanacharoen has urged to stay in their homes. The police have placed part of their hopes in the mother of the suspect, whom he moves from the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum to the scene of the incident so that he persuades his son to surrender. The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, General Kongcheep Tantrawanit, confirmed late on Saturday that at least 20 people have died, but did not specify the number of injured.
While following the emergency device, the Army has asked the media not to report live on the operation to avoid giving the soldier clues about his plans. A silence that contrasts especially with the sordid publicity that Jakraphanth himself had given before: the military man was broadcasting his acts live through Facebook Live, whose account was later deactivated by the social network.
"I'm so tired," he said, looking at the camera at 7:20 p.m. local time, dressed in camouflage clothing and with his head covered by a helmet. "Should I give up?" He had posted a few minutes earlier on Facebook. In this social network he had made clear this Saturday his discontent with the Thai regime. "Be enriched by corruption and take advantage of others, do you think they will take the money to spend it in hell?" He snapped.
The Army continues to play a key role in Thailand, with General Prayut Chan-ocha invested prime minister in July last year , after his party, the promilitar Palang Pracharat, won the March 2019 elections in number of votes, but No of seats. The country had not held elections since 2014, when being head of the Prayut Army gave a bloody coup after months of anti-government demonstrations. While the Thai prime minister today conveyed his condolences to the families of those killed, the authorities have avoided referring to the possible motives for the crimes committed by the soldier.
Thailand is one of the countries with the highest number of weapons, with more than 10 million between legal and illegal and an average of fifteen per hundred people, according to the Gun Policy organization. However, assaults with firearms are not common, except in the south, the scene of a separatist conflict for decades. The country ranks eleventh on the list of countries with the most gun deaths, led by Brazil, the United States and India, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), of the University of Washington.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2020/02/08/actualidad/1581165090_470857.html
(post is archived)