UPDATE: Police identify alleged gunman who opened fire at field hospital, killing a patient
Update: Police have identified the shooter as 23 year old Kawin Saengnilkul who served as a private in a special warfare unit in Lop Buri. He was dismissed in November 2019. Police told the Bangkok Post that Kawin decided to become a special forces soldier because of his love for weapons. On Kawin’s Facebook page, many of his photos and videos, including his profile photo, show him with a gun.
Original story…
Police are searching for an armed man who fired shots at a Pathum Thani hospital, killing a Covid-19 patient. At around 3:30am, a gunman dressed in a camouflage outfit with a red beret first shot a glass door at the front of the Princess Mother National Institute on Drug Abuse Treatment in the Thanyaburi district, just outside Bangkok, which serves as a temporary field hospital for Covid-19 patients.
The door, which had been locked, shattered and the gunman entered the building, Thai media reports. He opened fire and shot a patient who was walking out of the restroom. The 54 years old patient died. The gunman fired more shots as he moved through the ward of the 5-storey building. No one else was shot, reports say. He then fled and drove off in a white Isuzu pickup truck. Reports say he was driving on the outbound side of Phahon Yothin Road.
Police investigating the scene who personal protective equipment (PPE) suits. Officers found the body of the patient in front of the bathroom of the patient wing. Surveillance camera footage shows the gunman entering the building with a gun in his hand.
The Thai media outlet Sanook reports that earlier a 7-Eleven employee was shot and killed in Bangkok at around 2am. Police are still investigating, but Sanook says police suspect it was the same gunman who opened fire at the field hospital.
SOURCES: Nation Thailand | Bangkok Post | Sanook
