Bangkok: A Thai soldier accused of killing more than 26 people and injuring 57 others in a shooting at a crowded shopping mall has been shot dead by police, bringing an end to a 12-hour manhunt, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Sunday.
Military officials announced earlier that the shooter had been killed on Sunday morning. The attacker was “shot dead” at around 9 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET Saturday), according to officials.
The standoff began on Saturday after the shooter started firing first at a military site and then at the Terminal 21 shopping mall in Thailand’s northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, known as Korat.
Frantic scenes from the mall overnight showed heavily armed Thai soldiers trying to shepherd terrified shoppers out to safety.
News footage from the scene showed people leaving the area in pickup trucks and cars as security forces surrounded the mall.
Prime Minister Prayut confirmed Sunday that the gunman had taken hostages during the standoff but didn’t elaborate on how many or what happened to them.
Thai authorities said the attacker was believed to be Army Sub. Lt. Jakrapanth Thomma, an ammunition battalion officer working for the 22nd Ammunition Battalion.
“In general, any military (officer) would be good at guns, but this man certainly has more skills,” defense ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich said.
Chief of crime suppression Maj. Gen. Jirapob Puridet said that the gunman was a highly-skilled shooter who had won a number of small shooting competitions.
Jirapob led the team that went inside the building to confront the gunman. “It was almost like a Hollywood action movie shooting scene,” he said.
“At certain points the gun firing was nonstop.”
According to Jirapob, police tried to negotiate with the gunman at several points, attempting to convince him to give himself up.
Police contacted the gunman’s mother from her nearby hometown in neighboring Chaiyapum provinve, and brought her to an area close to the shopping mall. But Jirapob said her son wouldn’t talk to her.