A man was found dead in a house in the Rama 2 Road area of Bangkok after an eight-hour hostage standoff with the police. The police decided to storm the house after the man fatally shot a police officer and injured another.
The man, identified as “Boonma”, was reported to have had mental health issues and struck his own daughter on the face with a pistol after taking his four family members hostage during the standoff, which lasted from 9.35pm until about 5.30am this morning.
The siege began last night when a police unit from Tha Kham police station, led by Pol Lt-Col Kitchon Chanyarom, the deputy superintendent, rushed to a house in the DK housing estate on Kanchana-Rama 2 Road after receiving a report that a man was holding members of his family hostage.
Kitchon and another officer, Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Chaiwat Attasophonwattana, approached the house to investigate and were shot, allegedly by someone in the house. Both collapsed in front of the house before being rescued by an emergency response unit and rushed to a nearby hospital. Pol Lt-Col Kitchon was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
More police, including a SWAT team, were dispatched to the house. The surrounding area was cordoned off as armed officers laid siege from a safe distance.
At about 2am, Pol Lt-Gen Thiti Saengsawang, the commissioner of Metropolitan Police, arrived to supervise the police operations. Meanwhile, police negotiators, speaking through a bull horn, tried to persuade Boonma to release his family and surrender.
Thiti said that shots were fired from the house occasionally until at about 2.40am. Police did not return fire. At 5.20am, three stun grenades were lobbed into the house as officers stormed the residence.
Thiti told the media that Boonma was found dead in the house, without on elaborating about how he had died. Four hostages were safely brought out of the house, including the daughter with injuries to her face.
He insisted that the police followed the rules of engagement in a hostage-taking situation strictly, adding that the dead officer’s family will be fully compensated.
According to police, Boonma was a gun collector and used to practice at a shooting range. Four pistols, .38 calibre, 9mm and 11mm, and a shotgun were found in the house.
An emergency worker told the media that, about a month ago, they had rushed to the house after being asked by the police to take a man with mental health problems to hospital. They had to retreat rapidly when the man threatened to shoot them.
