Mass Shooting At Child Daycare In Thailand Kills 37 People, Including 24 Children

Drug addict policeman, Panya Khamrap, took the life of 37 people after arriving at a Thailand daycare to pick up his son and then getting stressed when he realized the boy wasn’t there. The 34-Year-Old, kicked off the force earlier this year for possession of methamphetamine, had appeared at court in the morning on drug charges before heading to the nursery to collect the child. 

Panya was known to be a frequent drug addict and was once caught with 100 pills in his possession. 

Police believe he might have been on drugs to have been able to carry out the horrific massacre, which had him opening a locked room decorated with animal photos and cartoons to knife sleeping children to death. Of the 39 people, 19 are boys, three girls, and two adults at the nursery. An adult and a young boy were also killed outside the center in a government office. 

Warning Graphic Content:

At Panya’s home, it was discovered he later shot his son [pictured] when he found him at home. 

Accordingly, one boy and four adults were found dead at his home, and another adult at a nearby building was also killed. Five adults were rushed to the hospital, who sadly was pronounced dead, and ten more were being treated for injuries. Panya, armed with a shotgun, a pistol, and a meat cleaver, first shot multiple adults, including an eight-month-pregnant woman, before entering the kids’ room.

“He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Utai Sawan daycare centre,” Police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon said.

He added: “He was already stressed, and when he couldn’t find his child, he got more stressed and started shooting.” It’s said that Panya continued the attack in nearby streets, shooting at bystanders and running over frightened pedestrians as he fled in a white van which he torched at his home to kill his wife and his son and turning the gun on himself. 

Paisal told broadcaster ThaiPBS that a huge search was launched after the massacre, but then the police arrived at Panya’s home to find his burned-out pickup and his family dead inside. 

“At first, people thought it was fireworks. It’s really shocking. We were very scared and running to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jidapa Boonsom, who was working in a nearby office at the time, said in an interview with REUTERS. One of the teachers who survived the massacre at a nursery told how the Killer pointed the gun at her head but that she claimed over a wall to escape. 

The teacher shared: “I knew it was a gun because I heard multiple gunshots, and then I saw him put in the bullets and point the gun at me.”

“I called the teacher, and the teacher was hugging the child. He kicked the mirror, and I climbed the walls and asked for help. He was inside the child center for a long time. He used a knife and cut all the kids’ heads. He was carrying a small gun. I didn’t know he was going to kill the kids. I thought he was gonna come out, but he stayed inside a long time. He used a knife and stabbed all the kids. He also stabled a pregnant teacher. He stabbed my staff. That’s all I know.”

Eyewitness Paweena Purichan said she was riding her motorcycle to her shop when she saw the fleeing Panya driving erratically.

The 31-Year-Old told AFP: “He intended to crash into others on the road. The attacker rammed a motorbike, and two people were injured. I sped off to get away from him. There was blood everywhere.” However, Panya joined the Royal Thai Police in May 2012 and was moved to Na Wang in 2018, where he worked until his dismissal. Former colleagues said he had frequent mood swings and was often shunned at work. 

National Thailand reported that Panya had once drawn his pistol at a bank manager who complained after finding him asleep in a police car when he was meant to be on guard.

In 2021, he also had heated arguments with his wife over an alleged affair with a karaoke worker whose ex-BF was a drug dealer. Panya verbally and physically assaulted a neighbor who confronted him about his loud house parties. So far, dozens of soaked bodies are scattered across the nursery floor and lined the roads and buildings outside in what is the deadliest mass killing in the country’s history.