Rival students open fire on Bangkok road, injuring 2 teens and innocent woman
A shooting broke out on a Bangkok road yesterday, January 8, following a conflict between two groups of college students, leaving two teenagers and an innocent woman injured.
The incident occurred at around 5.30pm at the Nida-Seri Thai Intersection in Bueng Kum district. Gunfire erupted while vehicles were stopped at a red light, triggering panic among motorists and causing heavy traffic congestion in the area.
Officers from Bueng Kum Police Station investigated the scene and confirmed three injured victims. Two of them were students from a technology college in the Min Buri area of Bangkok, while the third was an innocent woman, 42 year old Rujiraporn.
One student, 18 year old Paphangkorn, was shot in the neck. Another student, 17 year old Paraphat, suffered injuries to his right arm after being cut by shattered glass. Rujiraporn was struck by a bullet in her right arm. All three victims were rushed to Nopparat Hospital for treatment.
According to police, the two students told officers that they and five friends were travelling on three motorcycles when they encountered four rival students riding two motorcycles at the intersection. They claimed the rival group suddenly opened fire before fleeing the scene.
Rujiraporn, who was travelling in a white SUV, was hit by a stray bullet while sitting in the front passenger seat. Police found that her vehicle was struck by three gunshots, with two bullets hitting the left door and another passing through a window before striking her arm.
The students involved were taken to the police station for questioning. Officers are now working to identify and track down the suspected gunmen and to determine the exact motive behind the attack.
Police believe the shooting was linked to an ongoing rivalry between students from different institutions, a pattern seen in several previous violent incidents involving vocational students.
In a similar case reported in Pattaya last month, a teenager was seriously injured during a confrontation with rivals that involved gunfire and homemade ping pong bombs on Sukhumvit Road. Fortunately, no bystanders were injured in that incident.
In another case in November last year, a 17 year old schoolboy shot and killed a teenage rival outside a grocery store in Nakhon Ratchasima province. The gunman later claimed self-defence, saying he had been attacked first.
