Three high-school students were shot dead in the Khao Phanom District of Thailand’s southern province of Krabi last night after the motorcycle on which they were travelling was involved in a collision with a private car.

Police subsequently arrested the suspect at a roadside car tire shop in Thung Yai district this morning (Tuesday).

According to the Khao Phanom District police, the three high school students, all aged 18, left home to spend the night at another’s place after midnight.

Their motorbike collided with a black sedan. They were all thrown from the bike by the impact, which also caused the bike to catch fire.

Then, a man got out of the sedan and fired two shots from a shotgun into the three students before speeding away in the direction of Thung Yai district.

One spent shotgun cartridge was found at the scene of the accident.

Police checked footage from CCTV installed on the Khao Phanom-Thung Yai road and, as a result, about 20 policemen, including a SWAT team, laid siege to a car tire shop in Thung Yai district, where the suspected gunman was believed to have taken shelter. They found a black BMW with its front damaged and broken front windshield.

The police knocked at the front door of the shop, but there was no response. One of the officers then went to fetch the parents of the shop-owner, in the hope of convincing their son to open the door and surrender.

The shop-owner, later identified as “Thirasak”, tried to escape while wielding a handgun. He later surrendered to the police.

During police questioning this morning, Thirasak allegedly admitted that he took two methamphetamine pills before he drove the black BMW from his wife’s home to the shop and, on the way, his car was involved in a collision with a motorcycle.

He told the police that, after the accident, he grabbed a shotgun in his car and fired at the students.

A shotgun was later found in Thirasak’s bedroom.