Thailand massacre

THAI POLICE: MORE THAN 30 KILLED IN CHILDCARE CENTER ATTACK

A gunman who attacked a child care center in Thailand and then fired from his car as he fled killed more than 30 people Thursday, including two dozen children, authorities said.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history. The assailant, identified as a former police officer, killed his wife and child before taking his own life.

Photos and videos posted online of the day care showed the floor of one room was smeared with blood and sleeping mats scattered about. Pictures of the alphabet and other colorful decorations adorned the walls.

In videos, frantic family members could be heard weeping outside the building. Ambulances stood by as police and medical workers walked around.

Twenty-two children and two adults were killed in the building before the assailant fled, according to a police statement. But he continued to shoot people from his car, police Maj. Gen. Paisal Luesomboon told The Associated Press.

Police identified the suspect as 34-year-old former police officer Panya Kamrap. Paisel told PPTV in an interview that he was fired from the force earlier this year because of drug-related offenses.

In the attack he used multiple weapons, including a handgun, a shotgun and a knife, Paisel said.

After arriving home, he killed his wife and child and then himself, police said. | via Associated Press