Pol Maj Gen Nakharin Sukhonthawit, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 6, said on Wednesday investigators had initially pressed five charges against the boy: premeditated murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, illegally carrying a weapon and firing shots in a public place.
Other charges may be laid later, Pol Maj Gen Nakharin said, reports the Bangkok Post.
Investigators were also considering whether the boy’s parents should be charged under the Child Protection Act.
He said a search of the suspect’s room at his home in Lak Song area had found a BB gun and many rounds of ammunition. Investigators would make that a separate case.
Pathumwan police took the 14-year-old suspect to the Central Juvenile and Family Court to question him further, in the presence of officials, and seek his further detention.
The youngster was arrested shortly after a young gunman went on a shooting spree inside Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok’s Pathumwan district just before the evening peak hours on Tuesday. Two foreign women were killed, one from China and the other from Myanmar, and five people wounded. Shoppers fled from the mall in panic.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday vowed “preventive measures” after the shooting at the mall.
“I am confident Siam Paragon and government officials did their best to minimise the casualties and damage,” he said after joining in a minute’s silence at the mall. He offered his government’s condolences to the families of the slain women.
“Let this be the only time this happens. My government will give priority to preventive measures,” he added, without giving details.
PAST PROMISES
Pol Lt Gen Samran Nuanma, assistant national police chief, told a news conference on Wednesday that the weapon used in the attack was a pistol intended to fire blanks.
“But the barrel was modified for live shooting,” he said. “We will increase regulations and laws to control the use of firearms.”
However, repeated promises of tightening gun laws in the past have not prevented tragedies.
The Siam Paragon shooting occurred just one year after the Oct 6, 2022 massacre at a child care centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province that left 36 people dead, most of them children. And in 2020, a former soldier gunned down 29 people in a rampage that climaxed in a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima.
By one estimate, Thailand has 10 million guns in circulation ‒ one for every seven citizens, and one of the highest rates of ownership in the region. Many firearms are smuggled into the country, but Kritsanapong Phutrakul, a former police officer and now academic, said internet sales were becoming a problem.