Thai Health Minister Confirms Death of Special Forces Policeman in Shootout With Gunman
Bangkok/Sputnik: Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has confirmed the killing of one special forces serviceman in a shootout with the gunman at the shopping mall in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima.
Earlier, Thairath TV reported that the gunman who carried out a mass shooting at the Terminal 21 mall on Saturday managed to escape the mall after a shootout with special forces in the mall’s parking garage. One special forces serviceman was killed in the shootout, another was injured, according to the broadcaster.
In a public statement made in the early hours of Sunday, broadcast by Thai PBS, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that a special forces policeman was killed in a shootout with the gunman at the mall. He became the 21st victim of the mass shooting, according to the minister.
Thairath TV reported that all civilians have been escorted out of the mall and the adjacent territory. However, the health minister said that there could still be civilians at the mall, including injured people.
Thai special forces servicemen told Thairath TV that the gunman, a soldier identified as Jakrapanth Thomma, could still be inside the shopping mall.
The gunman reportedly held over a dozen people hostage at the mall in Nakhon Ratchasima on Saturday. The shooter is reportedly a professional serviceman, a shooting instructor in his unit, and a sniper who has completed a special forces program.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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