Thailand mass shooting kills 34 at daycare centre

 

Thirty-four people were killed in Thailand on Thursday in a gun and knife attack at a daycare centre by a former policeman who killed his wife and child before turning his weapon on himself, police said. 

There were 22 children among the victims of the suspected attacker, who had been discharged from the service last year for drug-related reasons, district police official Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya told media. 

About 30 children were at the centre when the gunman arrived, fewer than usual, as heavy rain had kept many people away, district official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working in a nearby office at the time, told Reuters. 

The gunman then forced his way into a locked room where children were sleeping, Jidapa said, to kill children there with a knife.