On October 6, an ex-police officer killed at least 36 people at a child care center in Uthai Sawan, Thailand.

The total death toll is 37, including himself. He killed 24 children and 13 adults.

Around lunch time, the shooter, Panya Kamrab, arrived at the child care center looking for his son. Witnesses claim he was in an agitated state when he arrived. He was armed with a pistol, shotgun, and a knife. He did not start the rampage until he could not find his son in the daycare. 

Once he arrived at the daycare and got out of the car he immediately shot a man eating lunch outside, then fired more shots. He moved on to the daycare where he first shot about 4 or 5 officials working..

A teacher heard what sounded like firecrackers and turned around to see staff members on the ground. She said she didn’t expect him to kill the kids as he pulled out another gun and knife. He stabbed a teacher, who was 8 months pregnant, before brutally killing the 24 children. 

In a statement, Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat said, “he mainly used a knife to commit the crime.”

After committing the murders at the daycare he then left and started killing anyone he saw with a gun and knife. Police surrounded his house soon after he arrived. After waiting they found out that he had not only committed suicide, but also killed his wife and child that were home at the time. 

It isn’t clear if there was a motive behind this massacre.

“I don’t think there is a teacher in the world who has not imagined themselves in this situation. It seems that more and more shooters are motivated to attack children and their teachers,” said Mrs. Carolyne Dymond, a teacher at NHS in an interview with The Greyhound News

Panya Kamrab lived locally and formerly was a police sergeant. He was suspended in January for drug use and finally released in June. His court appearance was supposed to happen the Thursday of that week, with the verdict coming out that Friday. The police chief and department believe that a possible motive for this attack could have been because of the drugs and the stress of his court appearance. 

Mass shootings are a rare occurrence in Thailand. However, recent reports of gun violence, including this attack, has called for a public debate over gun ownership. Due to poor enforcement, unregistered guns are not uncommon. The guns used in the massacre however were legal.