Thai school shooter had watched violent content, police

The death toll from Thailand's deadliest school shooting in years has risen to at least nine after a 12-year-old girl died in hospital on Saturday from wounds sustained a day earlier.

Police say the 14-year-old boy behind Friday's attack outside Bangkok had spent one to two years researching firearms online and had watched violent content on his personal computer.

The Deputy Commissioner of the Province 1 Police Region, Atthapol Anusit, revealed to journalists that 17 witnesses have been interviewed up to this point. A knife, along with a gun, empty cartridges, and a computer that was investigated by the detectives, were found in the boy’s backpack.

According to Atthapol, there is currently no evidence suggesting that the boy had been practising how to shoot.

A teacher confiscated a BB-style air gun the boy had brought to school last year, according to police. He had lived with his grandparents for 12 years, since his parents separated, and Thai officials have said he showed signs of stress connected to school, though some relatives told local media they were unaware of any difficulties he was experiencing.

Police claim that the boy killed his two grandparents at their residence in the early hours of Friday morning before going to Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi Province, where he fired shots and then killed himself.

The health department in Thailand revealed that over a dozen individuals were admitted to the hospital and were critically injured; the majority of the victims were between the ages of 12 and 14 years.

Thailand's Ministry of Education has assured the implementation of new school safety policies within three months that will include mental health assessment, referral for high-risk students, training for emergencies and restrictions against bringing weapons onto the campus.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has also promised new laws regarding guns, reigniting a discussion on access to firearms in the largest gun-holding country in Southeast Asia. This is the worst school shooting incident in Thailand since the 2022 mass shooting at a daycare that left over 30 dead, most of whom were children.

More forensic tests are pending, and investigators have not ruled out other possible developments in the case yet.