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Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy after gunshots were fired in a luxury Thailand shopping mall, killing at least three people and injuring four others.
The schoolboy opened fire with a Glock 19 handgun inside the Siam Paragon building in the centre of the Thai capital, police said, shortly after 4pm local time.
At least four injured people were seen being carried from the mall, as police confirmed at least three people had been killed.
Hundreds of terrified shoppers were earlier seen fleeing in panic as a special dispatch team raced to the scene after reports of more than ten gunshots.
Videos shared on social media showed people, including children, running out of the doors of the Siam Paragon mall as security guards ushered them out.
The alleged gunman is purportedly seen being detained by police after opening fire at a Bangkok mall
CCTV images of a suspected gunman who has injured at least three people at an upmarket shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand
People leave Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok after at least ten rounds of gunfire are heard
An armed police dispatch pursued the teen shooter and cornered him at the nearby Siam Kempinski Hotel just after 5pm. He surrendered without struggle.
One of the videos during the attack showed people taking cover in a darkened room inside a restaurant. The authenticity of the videos could not immediately be verified.
Local broadcaster Channel 3 reported sounds similar to gunfire were heard inside, coming from a bathroom in the mall.
A major nearby transit stop was shut down by officials as the evening rush hour began and intense rain pounded through city.
Following the initial reports of gunshots, first responders could be seen entering the mall as sirens wailed outside.
Witnesses said crowds of people left the building, one of several shopping centers in the area popular with tourists and well-heeled Thais alike.
One witness who was inside the mall, a Chinese tourist named Liu Shiying, told the AP that she saw people running and saying someone had opened fire. She said an alarm rang out inside the mall and the lights went out. She is still taking cover inside the mall.
‘We’re temporarily hiding. Who dares to go out?’
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An injured shopper is treated as terrified locals fled from a mall amid a suspected shooting in Bangkok
CCTV images of a suspected gunman who has killed at least three people at an upmarket shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand
Emergency responders are seen outside the Siam Paragon mall as a shooting incident was still ongoing inside
Videos shared on social media showed people, including children, running out of the doors of the Siam Paragon mall as security guards ushered them out
Thai police officers and rescue workers are seen outside Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok
Thai police officers secure Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok following a shooting incident in the mall
A police officer collects a gun following shots fired at the luxury Siam Paragon shopping mall, in Bangkok
Tourists evacuate from a shopping mall in Bangkok after a 14-year-old gunman opens fire, killing at least three
An injured shopper is treated as terrified locals fled from a mall amid a suspected shooting in Bangkok
An ambulance is seen outside Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok, as emergency services respond to the gunfire
Police spokesperson Achayon Kraithong said the national police chief had ordered and dispatched officers to control the area to resolve the situation. Television showed long queues of traffic outside the mall in torrential rain.
Police and mall officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The shooting comes just days before the one-year anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in recent Thai history, when an ex-police officer armed with a knife and gun attacked a nursery, murdering 24 children and 12 adults.
Thailand has high rates of gun ownership and has a long and violent history of firearm incidents, both small and large.
In 2020, a former army officer went on a rampage in a shopping mall in Korat, murdering 29 people and wounding scores more.
