Bangkok police are hunting a suspected motorist who shot and killed a man near a toll booth on the Si Rat Expressway in Bang Sue district early this morning, with investigators suspecting road rage as the motive.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Siam Boonsom says that police are questioning witnesses, including the victim’s girlfriend, who was in the car when the shooting occurred at about 4am near the Prachachuen toll plaza.
Preliminary questioning of witnesses and an examination of evidence found that the suspect’s minivan and the victim’s sedan cut in front of each other about 500 metres before reaching the toll booth.
After passing through the toll plaza, the suspect slowed down, pulled alongside the victim’s car and opened fire. The gunman fired three shots, one hitting the victim in the neck and two striking his arm, before fleeing the scene.
Investigators believe the suspect fled along the Phutthamonthon Sai 7 Road and headed towards southern Thailand.
Pol Lt Gen Siam said the victim’s girlfriend told police that she had argued with the victim earlier and had gone to a friend’s house in the Pak Kret area of Nonthaburi province. The victim later drove from the Phet Kasem area to pick her up and take her home before the shooting occurred.
Siam said police are reviewing CCTV footage from before and after the incident to strengthen the case.
Initial checks found that the suspect’s name matches that of the registered owner of the vehicle.
While police believe the shooting was a crime committed in the heat of the moment, Pol Lt Gen Siam said other possible motives have not been ruled out.
