Ex-boyfriend shoots teacher 3 times at kindergarten in Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand

An ex-boyfriend shot his ex-girlfriend, a kindergarten teacher, three times in northeast Thailand’s Nong Bua Lamphu province yesterday. The man shot the teacher, Wanpen, twice in the chest and once in her stomach, at the kindergarten where she taught.

One witness, a contractor renovating the school, said he heard gunshots and found Wanpen lying near the front door of the kindergarten. Wanpen was still able to talk, and she told him that the gunman was an ex and they had recently broken up.

Rescuers rushed Wanpen, believed to be around 25 to 30 years old, to Udon Thani Hospital. Police know who the suspect is, and expect to catch him soon, ThaiRath reported.

Tragically, this case is not the first incident of violence committed at a childcare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu.

In October last year, a man committed Thailand’s deadliest massacre by a single perpetrator at a nursery in Nong Bua Lamphu.

The culprit killed 37 people in total including 24 children under six years old while they were taking an afternoon nap. Then, he continued his killing spree on his journey home, where he killed his wife and child before committing suicide.

Stories of enraged male partners and ex-partners killing women regularly often headlines in Thailand.

In October last year, a man was arrested after he allegedly murdered his wife with a hammer at a house in Nonthaburi province. The man told police that he and his wife were drunk, and he was suspicious that she was having an affair when she wanted to visit her home province without him. He said he grabbed a hammer to nail the door shut and then swung at his wife in anger.

In August last year, a depressed police officer shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself in the Noen Maprang district, in central Thailand.