Knife rampage: Man terrorises shoppers, vandalises cars outside mall after losing job

A man wielding knives went on a rampage near a busy shopping centre in Nonthaburi, Thailand, allegedly due to stress from being unemployed. Officers from the Bang Bua Thong Police Station were alerted to the frenzied incident at around 8pm yesterday, which saw the man brandishing sharp weapons and attacking cars amongst nearby pedestrians.

At the scene, officials discovered a 51 year old man, Chaiwat, shirtless and wearing black trousers, behaving erratically while allegedly drunk. The man was holding knives in his hands and appeared to be out of control in the shopping centre’s car park. Police attempted to negotiate with Chaiwat for over an hour but to no avail, eventually arresting him later on. Authorities seized two sharp knives from Chaiwat and presented two charges against him: carrying a deadly weapon in a public place without reasonable cause and causing a commotion in a public area while drunk or under the influence of other substances.

An investigation revealed that Chaiwat was currently unemployed, which led to him experiencing stress and resorting to alcohol. Prior to the incident, he had consumed alcohol and caused panic in public while visiting a shopping centre. Additionally, Chaiwat stole metal from a car repair shop located next to the parking lot and damaged vehicles belonging to residents.

Initially, officers from the Bang Bua Thong Police Station apprehended Chaiwat and took him to the criminal investigation officer for processing the case under the law. Upon background examination, it was discovered that Chaiwat has a previous record for possession of firearms back in 2021.

At the time of publication, police had not informed the press of the charges the unruly man faces.