Pol Maj Gen Paisan Wongwatcharamongkol, chief of Nonthaburi police, confirmed yesterday (Sept 16) that Noppasil Ngamsud, 14, was killed by the accidental discharge of a handmade gun, not by an exploding keyboard as initially reported by a teacher at the school.
The tragedy took place in a computer class at Wat Lad Pla Duk School in tambon Bang Rak Pattana, Nonthaburi’s Bang Bua Thong district, on Thursday afternoon, reports the Bangkok Post.
The initial probe focused on the new computers in the classroom after students and a teacher reportedly told police they had heard an explosion. The keyboard at the desk where Noppasil was sitting was reportedly damaged and some keycaps had flown off.
Noppasil sustained serious injuries to his face including a wound about 3–4 centimetres deep near his left eyebrow.
He later succumbed to his injuries.
However, investigators later found traces of a bullet that had struck his eye, and during questioning a student confessed to carrying a pistol to school which they said had been fired accidentally.
The gun was thrown into Klong Bang Phai, from where it was retrieved on Thursday.
Pol Maj Gen Paisan said six people were initially charged in connection with the incident. The student who brought the gun to school was charged with recklessness causing death, possessing a firearm and carrying a firearm in public.
Based on his statement, the student said he had never fired the gun before but had borrowed it from a friend to scare someone. The student hid the gun in his jacket and it accidentally fired when he was about to put the jacket on, he claimed. He regretted that he had caused the death of his close friend, Pol Maj Gen Paisarn said.
Of the other five, two were charged with possessing a firearm and aiding in concealing or destroying evidence, while three were charged with aiding in concealing or destroying evidence.
At Wat Lad Pla Duk School in tambon Bangrak Pattana yesterday morning, the maternal grandparents of the late student, Noppasil Ngamsud, conducted a religious ceremony to comfort his soul and return it from the crime scene to his home.
Phra Khru Winaithorn Ngamsud, the grandfather, said the boy’s father was no longer around and he had grown up with his grandmother.
The monk said he did not think the boy who had the gun was cruel, but added that young people who receive education should have more of a conscience.
He said he had wished for his grandson to pass an examination to become a soldier. He had prepared learning material including a tablet computer for the boy but they were useless now, he added.