Police presence and security have been beefed up at and around the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok campus in Phaya Thai district of Bangkok today, ahead of the anniversary of the founding of the institute on February 1, after one of its students was seriously injured by a gunman near the institute on Wednesday evening.
According to a metropolitan police report, the shooting took place at about 10.50pm. Five gunshots were heard and a student attending the university, identified only as ‘Narawit’, was hit twice in the chest. He was rushed to the Police General Hospital for emergency treatment.
Police have checked footage from CCTV at and near the crime scene to trace the escape route of the perpetrator(s).
As the shooting took place just three days before the ‘Blue Day’, the anniversary of the founding of the university, the Metropolitan Police have decided to strengthen security at and around the institute.
Riot control officers have been put on alert, while other police units have been deployed at the entrances to the campus to search for weapons.
Police have also coordinated with teachers and parents.
Students at the campus have been at odds with those from the Pathumwan Institute of Technology for several decades and their culture of rivalry has been passed from one generation of students to the next.
All efforts to end their often violent rivalry have been futile, including the plan to relocate the Uthenthawai campus, which is on the property of Chulalongkorn University and which has met with stiff resistance from former and current students.
