Everything About the Bangkok Siam Paragon Mall Shooting That is Known So Far

By
Goh Yi Ling
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Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and a beloved holiday destination for many, including Singaporeans.

Known for being a shopping haven and a food paradise, tourists all over the world flock to Bangkok to let their hair down.

But did you also know that gun violence is common in Thailand?

There have been incidents of gun violence with deaths over the past few years in Thailand.

Unfortunately, yet another incident has just occurred today (3 October 2023), with at least three casualties.

Here is what is going on with the Bangkok shooting incident at Siam Paragon Mall.

Gunshots Heard and People Fled Siam Paragon Mall Earlier Today

This news is hot out of the oven.

Just a few hours ago, news reports started to surface about people fleeing the Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok due to purported gunshot sounds.

People were also posting on social media scenes of people fleeing the scene.

User @Dweii_ii posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) a video apparently taken from an overhead bridge.

In the video, people can be seen rushing out of Siam Paragon Mall in throngs.

There were also accounts from people who were in Siam Paragon Mall when the incident happened.

The user with the moniker @nitrojanee posted on X advising people to avoid Siam Paragon as there were gunshots and people were “evacuating”.

The user followed up with another post later on, reporting their safety and saying that it was a “catastrophe”.

The user was shopping in H&M when they saw people running and thought it was an “artist schedule”.

Unfortunately, the reality was something more sinister, and the “gunshots were quite loud”.

The user ran through the parking area, but it was still unsafe as the “shooter came out to chase us all”.

People started to run away, and a “minor stampede” occurred, though people were “helping each other out” and “managed to hide safely”.

Some people ran to other malls, while others ran to “some stores in Siam Square” to take shelter

On TikTok, the viral social media platform known for dance challenges, a user by the moniker of @gift_gibby posted a first-person point of view of the escape from the mall.

In the video, the person filming is running out of the mall, and there are hordes of people around, all rushing to escape to safety.

@gift_gibby คือตกใจมาก นั่งอยู่ร้าน KFC ชั้น G 😨 แล้วคนวิ่งกรูกันออกมา เลยวิ่งออกมาตาม พอวิ่งออกมาเลยสอบถาม เค้าบอกมียิงกัน #ยิง #siamparagon #paragon ♬ เสียงต้นฉบับ  – 😚 Gift 😊

How scary.

If you used to think only the United States of America struggles with gun violence, think again.

The Perpetrator Is Allegedly a 14-Year-Old Boy, Who Was Arrested by Police

What could have caused such a serious incident when Siam Paragon Mall is usually a shopping haven for visitors?

The gun perpetrator is reportedly a 14-year-old boy.

Yes, you read that right. He’s only 14 years old.

The Straits Times reported that the Central Investigation Bureau in Thailand shared that the police arrested the perpetrator after he was corned on the third floor of the Siam Kempinski Hotel.

The boy was reportedly kneeling with his hands on his head as three uniform-clad officers with bulletproof vests approached him.

One officer then tackled the boy, and the rest helped to arrest him.

Here is what the arrest looked like, as posted on X by a user by the moniker of @DEENWCRP.

In the image, the boy is seen pinned to the ground with his hands behind his back.

He is wearing a khaki-coloured cap and a black t-shirt.

The Nation Thailand, a news outlet focused on Thai news, released some images of the captured boy.

In the pictures, he was wearing beige-coloured camouflaged pants and was handcuffed.

Three People Are Dead, With Others Wounded

Unfortunately, the bullets fired in this scary incident were deadly.

The Nation Thailand reports that the Erawan Center released information that there were at least three deaths and seven casualties due to the shooting.

The Straits Times also reported that Thai Television station Thai PBS shared more information about the casualties, including one of those harmed being a foreign national.

That sounds like a diplomatic issue waiting to arise.

Of the casualties, one of them appeared to be a security guard at the mall.

There were images of the security guard sitting in an ambulance and being tended to by medical personnel.

A bullet had apparently hit his back.

Well, this just confirms that gun violence is definitely something you should consider if you want to go to Bangkok for a holiday.

In 2022, a former police officer killed 22 children in a nursery during an attack involving guns and knives.

In 2020, a soldier went on a rampage across four different locations, killing at least 29 people and wounding 57 in the north-eastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:

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Goh Yi Ling
Email: [email protected]