BANGKOK: A gunman killed a Thai official inside a local government office on the capital Bangkok’s outskirts on Monday (Aug 10), authorities said, days after a teenager’s shooting spree at a school in the same province reignited debate over gun control.
Police said the suspected shooter, former lawmaker Chalong Riewrang, fired at Thongchai Yenprasert, the chairman of the Provincial Administrative Organization in Nonthaburi, which borders Bangkok, because of a disagreement over borrowed money.
„The motive was personal,“ Police Lieutenant General Wattana Yijin told reporters, adding that Thongchai’s driver was also wounded but is not in a critical state.
Thongchai later died of his wounds at Nonthaburi’s Phra Nang Klao Hospital, its director Dr Sakol Sookprome told Reuters.
In a statement to reporters while in police custody, Chalong said that he had gone to confront the victim over a long-standing dispute about money but the latter declined to talk things out.
„I followed him to his car and hit his car’s window, saying I want to talk. He said he will not talk, so I pulled my gun,“ Chalong admitted.
„I did not aim to shoot, but his driver pulled a gun and pointed it at me so I fired.“
Thongchai was hit in the neck and lost a lot of blood, the hospital director said, adding that Thongchai’s driver was also shot and wounded in his right arm but successfully underwent surgery.
