Hat Yai school gunman captured

18-year-old assailant shot after fatally wounding school director and taking hostages

Police have arrested a gunman who fatally wounded a school director and injured two other people before taking hostages in Hat Yai district of Songkhla on Wednesday afternoon.

The 18-year-old assailant was shot and wounded to bring an end to the hostage drama that followed his initial assault on Phatong Prathan Keeriwat School, according to the Central Investigation Bureau.

The school director was wounded and rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Amarin TV reported.  

The assailant subsequently took a female teacher hostage.

Local media reports said that earlier, police had responded to a call about an 18-year-old male who was behaving violently and attempting to harm his mother at a house near the school.

While officers were attempting to defuse the situation, the suspect reportedly seized an M4 rifle from police. He then fled into the school grounds at 4.45pm, shortly before dismissal time, on Thetsaban 31 Road in tambon Phatong.

The suspect entered the school in “an agitated state while carrying a gun”, the Songkhla provincial government said in a statement.

Shots rang out in one of the classroom buildings, causing panic among teachers and students.

Police units and special operations officers swiftly cordoned off the area, evacuated people to safety and began efforts to negotiate with the gunman.

Local media reports quoted witnesses as saying the gunman had been seeking a teacher who had previously disciplined his younger sister, a student at the school. He had reportedly threatened violence if the teacher did not meet him.

Police are deployed to Phatong Prathan Keeriwat School in Hat Yai where a gunman had stormed a classroom on Wednesday. (Photo: Central Investigation Bureau)

Rescue teams and vehicles are dispatched to Phatong Prathan Keeriwat School in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province where a gunman opened fire on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo: Mae Tabtim Yala-Tuaipuai Tengniang rescue team)