The father of the latest victim of the Nonthaburi school shooting said he has forgiven the 14-year-old boy who allegedly opened fire at the school, adding that he does not blame anyone for the tragedy and only wishes for his daughter to rest in peace.
The father of Naphat Chaima, a Mathayom 1 student who was killed in the shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School on Aug 7, said he was not thinking about the circumstances of the tragedy but would focus on taking care of his daughter.
“I’m not thinking about anything now because it has already happened. I will just take good care of my daughter. That’s all,” he said, adding that the person who did it may have gone through something and that they do not know what he had experienced.
The father said he believes the school had been doing its best to look after its students, describing the shooting as an incident that should never have happened and that no one could have expected.
Asked about measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, he said several agencies would likely take action and work on preventive measures.
“There are already many agencies taking care of this issue. I don’t want to blame anyone. It would be better for us to work together to find ways to prevent this from happening again in the future,” he said.
As of yesterday, the death toll stood at nine, including four teachers, a secretary, a student, the alleged shooter and his two grandparents.
The father of the alleged shooter also apologised to the victims and those injured in the shooting, saying he did not know why his son had carried out the attack.
Meanwhile, at a temple in Nonthaburi province, a royal-sponsored funeral was held for Prapaporn Konsila, one of the four teachers killed in the shooting.
Her husband, Thanapat Somsri, spoke through tears about his loss, saying they had been together since 2009 and had a 12-year-old son who is now in Grade 6.
Every morning, Prapaporn would prepare breakfast for their son, help him get ready and take him to school before going to work herself, he said.
He described his wife as a kind-hearted person and said they had never had any serious problems during their life together.
“When I was informed about what had happened, I was shocked. I never thought something like this would happen to our family,” he said.
“Everything feels dark now. I don’t know how we will live from now on. We used to be a family of three — father, mother and son — and we went everywhere together. It will never be the same again.”
In Si Sa Ket province, the body of Kittipong Somrat, deputy director of Debsirin Nonthaburi School in charge of administration, was returned to his hometown for funeral rites.
Kittipong, also known as “Teacher Pong”, was taken to his family’s home in Khun Han district, where his wife, mother and relatives gathered to mourn his death.
