BANGKOK: A Thai man shot and killed six family members, including his two young children, before killing himself after a New Year’s party, the police said on Tuesday.

Sucheep Sornsung, 41, came home from the party and started to quarrel with his family before the shootings, the police said. The incident took place in southern Chumphon province.

The victims included his 6-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old, as well as two men and two women aged between 47 and 71, who were family members of Sucheep’s wife, who survived. One man was injured and survived the shooting.

“The (suspect) went to a party with his friends then came home to see his wife’s family and they started arguing before he used his gun to shoot them,” Police Major General Saharat Saksilapachai, commander of Chumphon provincial police, told Reuters.

“According to witnesses, the man did not drink a lot and we suspect that his rage came from old problems with his wife’s family,” Saharat said.

The police said Sucheep had a drug-related criminal record and had previously been jailed but there was no history of violence against his family.

Thailand has a high rate of gun ownership and gun-related death, but mass shootings are rare.

According to 2016 data from the University of Washington, Thailand had the highest reported rate of gun-related deaths out of 10 countries in Asia. It was about 50 percent higher than the Philippines, which was second on the list.

According to Thailand’s Interior Ministry, there are more than 6 million registered firearms in the country of 69 million people. But there are also many unregistered guns in circulation. </s> Seven people, including the gunman, were left dead after a mass shooting in the southern Thai province of Chumphon, AFP reports citing local police. The horrific incident occurred 10 minutes after midnight, when a “heavily” drunk man, identified as Sucheep Sornsung, opened fire on his family members apparently after feeling slighted by his in-laws during the New Year’s party. “All of the victims were his family members including his nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter,” a police official said. The perpetrator killed himself after the rampage, it is reported. </s> A Thai man who felt slighted by his in-laws shot dead six family members including his two young children at a New Year’s Eve party before turning the gun on himself, police said on Tuesday.

The mass shooting took place 10 minutes after midnight as Sucheep Sornsung joined his wife’s family to ring in the New Year in the southern province of Chumphon.

Sucheep was “heavily” drunk when he pulled out his pistol at the table in the beauty parlour where the party was being hosted in Phato district, police said.

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“All of the victims were his family members including his nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter,” said Lieutenant Colonel Larp Kampapan of Phato police.

“They were shot either in the head or the torso … he was angry that as the son-in-law, he was not being made welcome by his wife’s family.”

The gunman then turned the weapon on himself.

The other four victims were two men and two women aged between 47 and 71.

Thailand has high rates of gun ownership and petty personal disputes, romantic and business rivalries are often resolved with bullets. </s> BANGKOK: A Thai man who felt slighted by his in-laws shot dead six family members including his two young children at a New Year's Eve party before turning the gun on himself, police said on Tuesday (Jan 1)

The mass shooting took place 10 minutes after midnight as Sucheep Sornsung joined his wife's family to ring in the New Year in the southern province of Chumphon.

Sucheep was "heavily" drunk when he pulled out his pistol at the table in the beauty parlour where the party was being hosted in Phato district, police said.

"All of the victims were his family members including his nine-year-old son and six-year-old daughter," Lieutenant Colonel Larp Kampapan of Phato police told AFP.

"They were shot either in the head or the torso ... he was angry that as the son-in-law he was not being made welcome by his wife's family."

The gunman then turned the weapon on himself.

The other four victims were two men and two women aged between 47 and 71. </s> A man has opened fire after he felt disrespected by his in-laws at a New Year’s Eve party in southern Thailand, killing six people before turning the gun on himself, local officials say.

The mass shooting happened about 10 minutes after midnight when the family was attending a New Year’s Eve party in Phato District, which is located in Chumphon Province in southern Thailand.

Police told the AFP news agency that the suspect, Sucheep Sornsung, became angry because he did not feel welcomed by his wife’s family. He took out his pistol when they were sitting at a table and opened fire.

Sucheep shot and killed 6 people, including his 9-year-old son, his 6-year-old daughter, and 4 adults between the ages of 47 and 71. He then committed suicide by turning the gun on himself. </s> The mass shooting takes place 10 minutes after midnight as Sucheep Sornsung joined his wife's family to ring in the New Year in the southern province of Chumphon

BANGKOK, Thailand – A Thai man who felt slighted by his in-laws shot dead 6 family members including his two young children at a New Year's Eve party before turning the gun on himself, police said Tuesday, January 1.

The mass shooting took place 10 minutes after midnight as Sucheep Sornsung joined his wife's family to ring in the New Year in the southern province of Chumphon.

Sucheep was "heavily" drunk when he pulled out his pistol at the table in the beauty parlor where the party was being hosted in Phato district, police said.

"All of the victims were his family members including his 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter," Lieutenant Colonel Larp Kampapan of Phato police told Agence France-Presse.

"They were shot either in the head or the torso... he was angry that as the son-in-law he was not being made welcome by his wife's family."

The gunman then turned the weapon on himself.

The other 4 victims were two men and two women aged between 47 and 71.

Thailand has high rates of gun ownership and petty personal disputes, romantic and business rivalries are often resolved with bullets. – Rappler.com </s> NARATHIWAT, Thailand: Unknown gunmen shot dead two Buddhist monks and injured two others on Friday at a temple in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat, which has a mainly ethnic Malay, Muslim population.

"We believe that at least six assailants were involved in the shooting and are at large," a police spokesman in the Su-ngai Padi district told Reuters.

The victims, an abbot and vice abbot, were killed inside the Rattanupap Buddhist temple on Friday night. The two injured people were being treated at a nearby hospital.

A separatist insurgency has dragged on in southern Thailand for more than fifteen years. More than 6,900 people have been killed and 13,000 injured in the area since 2004 when violence intensified, independent monitoring group Deep South Watch says.

Religious figures, both Buddhists and Muslims as well as state officials, have often been targeted for attacks.

As with most violence in Thailand's deep south, there was no claim of responsibility.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country but Muslim Malays are a majority in three southern provinces bordering Malaysia.

The three provinces, and a small part of neighbouring Songkhla, were part of a sultanate annexed by Thailand in 1909. Separatist tensions have simmered ever since.

The Thai military government has taken part since 2015 in talks brokered by Malaysia that aim to end the violence but that process stalled last year. Bangkok has signalled that it will return to the talks this year. </s> NARATHIWAT, Thailand (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen shot dead two Buddhist monks and injured two others in an attack at a temple in Thailand’s mainly Muslim south, the first such killing of a Buddhist monk in the restive region in more than three years.

Military police officers are seen at a temple where unknown gunmen shot dead two Buddhist monks and injured two others on Friday in Su-ngai Padi district in the southern province of Narathiwat, Thailand, January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

An abbot and vice abbot were killed when at least six assailants believed to be dressed as members of a government security force burst into the Rattanupap temple in Narathiwat province and opened fire late on Friday, police said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha and religious leaders condemned the attack in the mainly ethnic Malay province, the scene of a long-running insurgency against Thai rule.

“The prime minister condemns this outrageous act and has ordered officials to quickly investigate the incident and apprehend these criminals,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Thai Muslim leaders also spoke out against the shooting of monks.

“We urge perpetrators of violence in the southern border provinces from all sides to stop killing innocent people and religious leaders,” the Sheikhul Islam Office, which represents Thailand’s Muslim minority, said in a statement.

Police said the assailants were still at large.

A separatist insurgency has dragged on in southern Thailand for more than fifteen years. More than 6,900 people have been killed and 13,000 injured in the area since 2004 when violence intensified, independent monitoring group Deep South Watch says.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country but Muslim Malays are a majority in three southern provinces bordering Malaysia.

The three provinces, and a small part of neighboring Songkhla, were part of a sultanate annexed by Thailand in 1909. Separatist tensions have simmered ever since.

As with most violence in Thailand’s deep south, there was no claim of responsibility for Friday’s attack. Buddhist and Muslim leaders as well as state officials have often been targeted by insurgents.

At least 23 monks have been killed and more than 20 wounded since 2004, but there has not been an attack on monks since 2015. An imam was shot on Jan. 11, also in Narathiwat province.

The killings have added a religious dimension to a conflict that initially was rooted in ethnic and national tensions.

“Many Buddhists, not just in the south but across the country, are feeling aggrieved by Muslims, and it will take time for that to change,” Rakchart Suwan, chairman of the Buddhist Network for Peace, told Reuters.

Analysts said the latest incident showed that insurgent group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) retained significant military capacity despite government efforts to wipe it out.

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“Regardless of BRN’s specific objectives with this attack, the Thai government would be very foolish not to consider the danger of a toxic communal atmosphere in the south which could get out of control,” Anthony Davis, an analyst with defense and security publisher Jane’s, told Reuters.

The Thai military government has taken part since 2015 in talks brokered by Malaysia that aim to end the violence but the BRN has stayed out of the dialogue.

That process was stalled last year and Bangkok has signaled that it will return to the talks this year. </s> Prosecutors on Thursday charged a 51-year-old man with murder and attempted murder after he allegedly started shooting in a crowded suburban Kansas City bar, killing one man and injuring two others, in an attack that some witnesses said was racially motivated. Authorities repeatedly declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although local police said they were working with the FBI to investigate the case.

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A bartender at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, said that Adam Purinton used “racial slurs” before he started shooting on Wednesday night as patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at an area hospital, police said. Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24, were hospitalised and are in stable condition, they said. The Linked-in accounts for Kuchibhotla and Madasani say that they were engineers working at GPS-maker Garmin and had studied in India.

Local, county, state and federal law enforcement authorities attended the news conference where the murder charges were announced.

Asked if the presence of federal authorities indicated the shooting could be considered a hate crime, FBI special agent Eric Jackson said it was too early to determine. “This was a violent crime and we want the best prosecution that relates to this because there are victims of this crime and we want the community to know that … we’re looking to make sure that the individual involved in this is held accountable for his actions.”

Bartender Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star that Kuchibhotla and Madasani stopped at Austins for a drink once or twice a week.

“From what I understand when he was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen (Kuchibhotla and Madasani), Ian (Grillot) stood up for them,” Bohnen said. “We’re all proud of him.”

Witnesses also told the Star that Purinton yelled “get out of my country” before he opened fire.

Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that when the shooting broke out, he hid until nine shots had been fired and he thought the suspect’s gun magazine was empty.

“I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him,” Grillot said in a video from the University of Kansas Health System posted on the Star website. “I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me.” Grillot said that the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.

“It’s not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity,” Grillot said. “We’re all humans, so I just did what was right to do.”

GoFundMe pages were started to help pay expenses for all three of the victims.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook saying that he was very disturbed by the shooting. “I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia,” Moran said.

Purinton was taken into custody just after midnight on Thursday morning at an Applebee’s about 70 miles to the southeast of Olathe in Clinton, Missouri, authorities said.

Assistant Clinton Police Chief Sonny Lynch said an Applebee’s bartender summoned police to the bar where the man was drinking because he said he’d been involved in a shooting. The unarmed Purinton was taken into custody and interviewed by detectives from Olathe.

“He mentioned he had been involved in a shooting and we went out there and picked him up,” Lynch said.

The bar where the shooting took place was closed Thursday, with a sign in the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.
A Thai man kills six members of his family before killing himself in a drunken shooting spree.