1 killed in shootout between students driving by a petrol station

A brawl involving gunfire between vocational students in Bangkok ended in one Thai person being killed and two more people being injured. The melee took place in the Bang Khun Thian district of the capital city, as 2 groups of students clashed in what appeared to be a shootout on the back of motorbikes that passed in front of a petrol station.

The groups of students were reported to be from 2 rival schools, though the exact details of what they were fighting over are unknown. An eyewitness working as a mechanic near the scene of the crime, said that 2 groups of students with more than 10 people in each were riding motorbikes while firing guns at each other on Sakae Ngam Road just before 10 pm Wednesday night.

It appears that everyone injured in the incident were innocent bystanders not involved in the clash. The man who died was reported to be 20 years old and was caught in the crossfire and hit by a stray bullet. Another Thai man was reported to have been shot in the stomach. A Burmese national who was working at the petrol station at the time was seriously injured, with a bullet passing through his chest and his left shoulder.

Rescue volunteers responded immediately along with officers from the Samae Dam Police Station, receiving word of the shootout between vocational students at the petrol station and arriving at the scene of the crime at 10 pm.

The 3 people injured by the stray gunfire were rushed from the grisly scene, where blood splatters could be seen around the station, and brought to a nearby hospital for treatment. One was pronounced dead while still en route to the hospital.

Police are now investigating the incident and studying CCTV footage from cameras around the petrol station to try to identify people involved in the gun battle and bring them to justice.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News