SURAT THANI: One of two wanted suspects involved in a shooting rampage that resulted in four people being killed in a house in Surat Thani on Saturday night was arrested by police yesterday afternoon. Two other subsequent deaths are believed to be linked to the shooting.
Special operations police took Manop Wang-ngan, 57, into custody at a house in Thap Put district, Phangnga province, at about 2pm.
Mr Manop was one of two suspects wanted for three murders at a house in Khirirat Nikhom district, Surat Thani.
Manop: Arrested over alleged role
The other suspect is Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn Wichian, 46, of Khirirat Nikhom police station.
A third suspected gunman, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s brother Thammarat Wichian, 48, was killed at the house, believed shot by one of the three victims during the attack.
Following his arrest, Mr Manop allegedly said that after the attack on Saturday, he fled in a Toyota Vios with Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn. Also in the car was Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s son Atthapol.
Mr Manop was dropped at a house in tambon Khao Phang in Ban Takhun district. From there, he fled to Thap Put district, where he was arrested.
Atthapol was later found dead in a car at a temple in Surat Than on Sunday. His body was covered with a cloth while his hands were tied with white cotton yarn. A spent 9mm cartridge shell was found inside the car. He was believed to have been killed three hours before being found, police said.
Atthapol is Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s son by his former wife.
Atthaporn: Wanted over shooting spree
The Toyota Vios was later found abandoned at a resort in tambon Khao Phang in Ban Takhun district. The car was taken away for examination by forensic police.
Earlier yesterday, police said Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s wife, Panida Nilniyom, 24, was found dead in a room at Leelawadee Resort on rural road 4247 in tambon Tha Khanon, Khirirat Nikhom district. The cause of her death was not reported.
Panida was the only daughter of Thammarong Nilniyom, 60, who was killed in the Saturday attack after the suspected gunmen arrived at his house at Moo 8 in tambon Kapao.
Police said security camera footage showed the three gunmen exit the Toyota Vios to storm the house, where they began a wild shooting spree. Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and his elder brother Thammarat were each allegedly armed with an M-16 assault rifle while Mr Manop had a shotgun.
Thammarong, his wife Nilthip Palakachen, 49, and Pornsak Phetchu, 56, a former chief of Moo 13 village in tambon Tha Khanon were killed in the attack while Thammarat was believed to have been shot by one of the victims.
Provincial Police Region 8 commissioner Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomchit confirmed on Sunday that Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn was Thammarong’s son-in-law. He divorced his former wife in October 2022 and married Panida, who divorced her former husband in mid-2022. Thammarong reportedly disliked Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and wanted to break up their marriage, putting the two men in conflict. This is believed to be the motive for the attack.