Dozens of heavily armed officers from Khan Na Yao Police Station and the Arintharat 26 special operations unit surrounded a residential building in the Khu Bon area last night following a fatal shooting at Bueng Thong Lang Temple. Officers negotiated with a suspect for over four hours to no avail before he shot himself.
The operation was launched to apprehend ‘Nopparat’, who had fled from the temple and hid inside a room with his girlfriend in the Eua Arthorn housing estate on Soi Khu Bon 27, after allegedly shooting and killing a male, identified only as ‘Phokhai’, death in front of a pavilion at the temple.
Police set up a secure perimeter around the building and used surveillance drones to monitor the suspect’s movements closely throughout the night.
A neighbour reported hearing a gunshot around 10.00pm, followed by dozens more shots later on. While shocked, the resident noted that it was not the first time gunshots had been heard in the vicinity, due to previous incidents involving local youth groups.
After over four hours of failed negotiations, commandos managed to secure the scene at around 2.00am and safely rescued the suspect's female companion from the room.
Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pol. Lt-Gen. Siam Boonsom stated that investigators tracked Nopparat to the rented apartment shortly after the temple shooting. They initiated negotiations at 2.00am, bringing in close friends and relatives to convince the suspect to surrender, which initially appeared to be progressing.
After two gunshots rang out from inside the room, however, Arintharat commandos breached the apartment, rescued the female and found Nopparat with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Nopparat was rushed to hospital after officers found that he still had a pulse, while investigators from Khan Na Yao Police Station prepared to question the woman and relatives seeking further evidence.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the motive behind the temple shooting stemmed from a personal grudge, as Nopparat was acquainted with ‘Natwipha’, Phokhai's girlfriend, and was enraged after Phokhai accidentally shot and killed her in a previous firearm discharge.
