Thai police arrest man who fired dozens of shots in the air in central Bangkok

The man was reported to have fired 20-40 shots during the incident lasting more than six hours in a neighbourhood near Chulalongkorn University

Thailand is still shell-shocked from the mass shooting on the weekend, when a soldier killed 29 people at a shopping mall in the country’s northeast

Reading Time:2 minutes

Police in tactical gear in Bangkok. Photo: AP

Published: 2:18pm, 14 Feb 2020Updated: 8:14pm, 14 Feb 2020

Thai police took a man into custody on Friday after he fired multiple gunshots into the air in central Bangkok, injuring no one less than a week after a soldier killed 29 people in shooting rampage in the country’s northeast.

The incident in the Thai capital was related to a personal conflict, a police spokesman told reporters.

He said the suspect surrendered and agreed to accompany police to their station.

The man was reported to have fired 20-40 shots during the incident lasting more than six hours in a residential neighbourhood with small shops, many selling sporting goods, next to Chulalongkorn University.

Police had cleared the area around the building and Thai media reported a family member was brought in to try to convince him to surrender.

Thais lay flowers during a vigil to commemorate the victims of the shooting rampage at Terminal 21 shopping centre. Photo: EPA

Last Saturday, a Thai soldier angered over a land dispute killed his commanding officer and the officer’s mother-in-law before stealing more weapons and heading to the Terminal 21 Korat mall in Nakhon Ratchasima. He holed up there for several hours before security forces killed him, ending the rampage in which he killed 29 people in Thailand’s largest mass shooting.