1 dead, 4 injured as gunmen rampage at a Bangkok wedding

Police are on the lookout for rampaging gunmen on motorbikes who shot and killed one man and injured another four people yesterday at a marriage ceremony in Din Daeng district of Bangkok.

The families of 25 year old groom, Fahlan, and 24 year old bride, Jinsujee, held a marriage ceremony at the bride’s home in Soi Sutthipong 1/1 on Sutthisan Winitchai Riad in the Din Daeng district of Bangkok.

After the ceremony, relatives and friends gathered inside the bride’s family garage to enjoy some food and drinks. But the party was rudely interrupted at about 5pm when six gunmen roared up on three motorbikes and suddenly sprayed bullets into a crowd of about 90 people.

The bride and groom were unharmed but five guests were injured, one fatally. The injured were sent to nearby hospitals by a rescue team. Unfortunately, one of the groomsmen, Nattawut Pinitmai, was shot in the chest and he died in hospital.

Thai media reported that the shooting is possibly related to an ongoing feud between two Bangkok universities.

The groom graduated from the Uthenthawai Campus of the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok in Bangkok. The university is well-known among the public because students from the institution are often in the media spotlight, be it for its brutal initiation ceremonies for first-year students or conflicts with students from other institutions.

Many alumni from the Uthenthawai Campus attended the ceremony and it is believed the gunmen were rivals of the groom or someone in the wedding party group.

The Deputy Commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Chokchai Ngamwong, reported that the groom graduated from the institution two years ago and said that he had never had problems with anyone.

The groom revealed the gunmen didn’t focus on anyone, just fired randomly into the crowd. Fahlan added that someone might have seen a post about his marriage on Facebook and decided to attack them because many alumni were at the ceremony.

The media reported that the groom was a good student and never fought with anyone when he studied at the institution. He was also a football player for the university team.

Chokchai informed the media that officers would investigate the area, check security cameras nearby, and question the marriage participants and witnesses to gather more evidence.

SOURCE: Khaosod | Thairath | Dailynews