Phuket security guard shoots raging bar customer holding a sword

An early-morning scuffle outside of a karaoke bar in Phuket town ended when a security guard shot a Thai customer who was wielding a half-metre-long sword. The pre-dawn incident took place at Nai Mueang Sot Phuket pub and karaoke bar on Phuket Road, with police responding to a call at around 5.50am.

Upon arrival, they discovered a 27 year old local Thai man shot once in the chest and completely unresponsive. Kusoldharm rescue workers on the scene used CPR in an attempt to revive the unconscious man and then transported him to Vachira Phuket Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The altercation took place when the man was fighting with a woman outside of the club and the security guard stepped in to try to resolve the issue. The enraged man went to his white pickup truck in the parking lot and grabbed a small sword from his car. The 35 year old security guard pulled out a gun and fired once, shooting the angry man in the chest. The man’s body was found laying next to his pickup truck.

The karaoke bar, which was open long after the legal closing time but closed at the time of the shooting, was then swarmed by police, including five senior officers from the Phuket City Police Station. The security guard immediately surrendered himself to the Phuket City Police and handed over his Glock 9mm handgun he had fired which was reportedly properly registered.

Police inspected the body and found surrounding it one used bullet casing, and a sword with a blade that was about half a metre long.

Police are still investigating exactly the sequence of events that occurred leading up to the fatal shooting. So far, it appears that after the pub close, two customers, a man, and a woman, were fighting outside of the bar where security guards were still finishing up their shift.

It is unclear if the man pulled out the long blade to threaten or attack the woman or in response to the security guard trying to break up the fight. One report says the man was moving toward the woman with the knife when the guard shot him, but the Phuket Police investigation is still in progress to determine the exact details.

SOURCE: The Phuket News & Bangkok Post