At least six people died and another 15 were wounded on Friday after a student allegedly opened fire at a school in Thailand, before fatally shooting himself.
The attack unfolded shortly after 10am local time at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, a high school located on the outskirts of Bangkok, where the gunman began firing from inside the campus.
Chaotic scenes followed as terrified students rushed out of the school grounds, injured victims were placed into ambulances, and visibly shaken teachers embraced one another in tears.
Images shared by emergency responders showed one person lying on a stretcher beside an ambulance, while another victim received treatment from medical personnel nearby.
Police said investigators were still working to determine what led to the Thailand school shooting, adding that the firearm was believed to have been taken from a member of the student’s family.
Lt. Col. Dechrapee Kongdee, commander of the Nonthaburi provincial police, earlier confirmed that the suspected shooter, believed to be a 14-year-old student, had taken his own life. Authorities also found a man and a woman dead at the student’s home.
One witness told reporters that students took shelter inside a classroom after hearing gunfire from another building, remaining hidden until police officers knocked on the door and helped guide them to safety.
Sources at the scene said the suspect was reportedly seen reloading ammunition inside the school building during the attack.
Photos published by local media show the suspect wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with several bullet casings visible on the ground.
A student reunites with a relative after being evacuated from Debsirin Nonthaburi School
An injured teacher receives medical attention inside an ambulance at Debsirin Nonthaburi School
Students flee from the Debsirin Nonthaburi School after the shooting took place
Armed response units were deployed as they worked to secure the school, while students and staff were evacuated from the campus.
One 18-year-old student told Reuters he initially thought firecrackers were going off or someone banging an object.
‘I didn’t think it was a gun at first,’ he said.
‘There were many shots: bang bang bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.’
Emergency worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, 47, described arriving as the shooting was ongoing and his team treated students with injuries in the back, chest and arms.
They found a male teacher lying dead on an upper floor of the school, and in another room they found a female teacher with wounds in her chest and arm.
‘We gave CPR for about 30 minutes and rushed her to the hospital as we could not get her heart rate up, but we tried our best,’ he said.
In the 2025 academic year, the school had an enrollment of around 3,100 students and 147 teachers, according to district authorities.
Deputy Education Minister Akkharanan Kannakittinan said in a statement he was coordinating to provide assistance.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul offered his condolences and said he had ordered relevant officials to take care of the victims.
‘It’s such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?,’ he told reporters at Bangkok’s Government House.
Terrified pupils climbed from windows during a school shooting in Thailand this morning
Armed police officer enters Debsirin Nonthaburi School, following a shooting incident at the school
The suspect was reportedly seen reloading ammunition inside the building, according to sources at the scene. Pictured: The gun used in the shooting
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said the suspect used a handgun (pictured) and the interior ministry was investigating how the student obtained it
Students run as they evacuate from Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident, in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok
A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand’s Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026
Emergency responders walk with a stretcher outside a school following a shooting in Bang Kruai district
Thai police officers gather inside the compound of Debsirin Nonthaburi School, following a shooting incident at the school
The Debsirin School is a well-known secondary school in Thailand and has branches across the country.
The original Debsirin School in Bangkok was founded by Thai King Chulalongkorn in 1885.
Its school in Nonthaburi, where the shooting has taken place, is situated in the northwestern outskirts of Bangkok.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation – one for every seven inhabitants.
In February, police shot and arrested a teenage shooter who opened fire at a school in the south of the country in February, leaving the school principal dead and two students injured.
The teen had used a police officer’s weapon in the shooting.
A local police chief said at the time that the suspect was hospitalised for psychiatric treatment in December and had been discharged.
The teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his weapon – a 9mm pistol – just before the incident, and then used it to carry out the attack.
In 2022, an ex-policeman armed with a gun and a knife stormed into a nursery in the country’s north and murdered 24 children and 12 adults, one of Thailand’s deadliest massacres.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow
