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Thailand school shooting kills seven

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Police and emergency workers respond to a deadly shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi school, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Police and emergency workers respond to a deadly shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi school, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images theguardian.com
Rescuers stand near an ambulance at Debsirin Nonthaburi school, the site of a shooting incident. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Rescuers stand near an ambulance at Debsirin Nonthaburi school, the site of a shooting incident. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters theguardian.com
Thai police gather at the scene after a school shooting in Bang Kruai district, north of Bangkok. Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Thai police gather at the scene after a school shooting in Bang Kruai district, north of Bangkok. Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images theguardian.com
Students run as they evacuate from Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district (Reuters) Students run as they evacuate from Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district (Reuters) Reuters
A teacher reacts while embracing a person at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok (Reuters) A teacher reacts while embracing a person at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok (Reuters) Reuters
Students react with a relative after being evacuated from Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok (Reuters) Students react with a relative after being evacuated from Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok (Reuters) Reuters
A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday (AP) A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday (AP) independent.co.uk

Seven people were killed and at least 15 wounded when a student opened fire at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok, according to Reuters. Thai police said the suspected gunman, described as a student at the school, later died by suicide. Images from the scene showed ambulances arriving and students and staff being evacuated as officers moved through the buildings.

School shootings remain rare in Thailand compared with the United States, which is one reason the attack drew immediate national attention. Yet the reporting also points to a familiar contradiction: Thailand’s gun laws are described as strict, but the country is believed to have a large number of privately owned firearms in circulation, with illegal possession punishable by lengthy prison terms, the Independent notes. That gap between formal rules and practical availability tends to shift the burden of safety onto schools and local police in the moment, when the only workable instruction is to hide and wait.

Authorities used social media during the incident, with police posting warnings for people inside the school to shelter and urging the public and media to stop livestreaming. The request speaks to a modern operational problem: real-time video can broadcast police movements and the location of students while the situation is unresolved. Witness accounts cited by the Independent describe students crouching under desks and then being led out after officers cleared corridors, a routine that now travels globally through phone footage.

The school itself sits inside a national institution. Debsirin Nonthaburi is part of a network of secondary schools founded by the Thai royal family, and district authorities said the campus has thousands of students and more than a hundred teachers. That profile makes the attack harder for officials to treat as an isolated security lapse at a marginal facility; it happened at a prominent school in the Bangkok area, not a remote outpost.

Police said the gunman remained inside the school for a period after the first reports, before the incident ended with his death. By the time students were outside, the school grounds were being turned into a triage and reunification point, with families and classmates consoling one another while officials began counting the wounded.