PUBLISHED : 20 Dec 2023 at 04:00
A 20-year-old man suspected of shooting dead a vocational student and a female teacher near separate schools in Klong Toey district of Bangkok on Nov 11 was arrested while camping in the northern province of Chiang Mai yesterday, according to a senior police officer.
Pol Maj Gen Theeradej Thamsuthee, Investigation Division chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB), said Anawin Kaewkeb was caught hiding in Hmong Doi Pui Tribal Village in tambon Suthep of Muang district, and detectives were bringing him in for questioning at the MPB.
During the Nov 11 shooting, Mr Anawin was allegedly a pillion rider who dismounted to shoot Thanasorn Hongsawat, a 19-year-old first-year Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok Uthenthawai Campus student. A stray bullet also killed Sirada Sinprasert, a 45-year-old computer teacher at Sacred Heart Convent School, who was withdrawing money from an ATM at the time, Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said.
The arrest of Mr Anawin followed those of 12 other suspects in the same case during multiple raids in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan on Monday.
The shooting was initially perceived as a revenge attack stemming from a feud between students from rival vocational schools, with the teacher as collateral damage.
A deeper MPB investigation found that the shooter and his partner, who drove the motorcycle used in the shooting, were part of a crime syndicate comprising at least 84 members.