Policeman in murder-suicide

PATONG: A policeman stationed at Tungtong Police Station shot his girlfriend dead early yesterday morning, then killed himself with a single bullet to the head. Neighbors of the couple, Pol L/Cpl Chamlong Homkate, 29, and 26-year-old Vanich Meejun, called police just before 2 am to report hearing two gunshots from the couple’s room on Phra Barami Rd. The couple had been arguing loudly for the previous three hours, they told police. Pol Lt Serm Kwannimit of Kathu Police Station said that when officers arrived at 2 am, they found K. Vanich lying dead on the floor, with a gunshot wound to the left temple. Chamlong had been taken to Patong Hospital by neighbors, who reported to police that they had found him in the couple’s room unconscious, bleeding from the head and holding a .38 caliber pistol in his right hand. Chamlong later died in the hospital. The couple’s bodies have been sent to Nakhon Sri Thammarat for cremation.