BANGKOK, Feb 15 (NNN-TNA) – Two gunmen, one of whom armed with an M-16 assault rifle, went on a shooting rampage, at a shop-house in Nakhon Pathom province, in central Thailand on Friday, the second such incident on the same day, said police.
No casualties were reported.
One of the two gunmen, identified as Thada, opened fire in a pre-dawn shooting spree in the house, which has been turned into an automotive garage, in downtown Nakhon Pathom. The walls of the house were riddled with bullet holes.
The two gunmen kidnapped the wife of the house owner and got away in a sedan, before police arrived at the scene, according to provincial police commander, Pol. Maj. Gen. Khamron Boonlert.
The house owner told the police that his wife is an ex-girlfriend of Thada, the gunman who remained at large alongside his companion.
Police are hunting for the two gunmen and the female hostage.
In the first shooting incident on Friday, the police said they have arrested a lone gunman who opened fire from a shophouse in downtown Bangkok in the morning.
The gunman fired more than 40 gunshots from a shophouse in Pathumwan district of Bangkok, but nobody was reportedly killed or injured, according to Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Pol. Lt. Gen. Phakkhaphong Phongphetra.
The 44-year-old gunman, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, fired shots from the sportswear store which he has resided alone, in a row of 20 shop houses on Banthat thong Road near Suphachalasai national stadium, according to the police commissioner.
He initially opened fire from the rooftop of his shop house at a group of teenagers who safely took cover and called the police for help.
Then he fired gunshots to policemen, including those from an Arintharat police commando unit, as they were laying siege around the scene, but no casualty was reported.
The policemen later managed to arrest the gunman and brought him to Pathumwan police station for investigation.
Thailand had just experienced a rare and deadly mass shooting earlier this month, in which an army gunman opened fire with an assault rifle in an unprecedented shooting rampage on Feb 8, leaving 30 dead and over 50 injured at the Terminal 21 shopping mall and some other locations in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
The gunman, an army sergeant major, was gunned down and killed by police commandos nearly 18 hours later.– NNN-TNA