Gunman detained after entering southern Thai school, hostages freed, police official says
The suspect entered the school demanding to see a specific teacher and upon not being able to find the person, the suspect shot a school staff member, according to an official.
This photo released by the Royal Thai Police shows Thai police arresting a man at Patongprathankiriwat School in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, Thailand on Feb. 11, 2026. (Photo: AP/Royal Thai Police)
BANGKOK: A gunman who fired shots at a school in Hat Yai district in southern Thailand on Wednesday (Feb 11) has been detained and all the people who were held hostage have been freed, a police official told Reuters.
An 18-year-old man entered the Patongprathankiriwat School in Songkhla Province's Hat Yai earlier on Wednesday with a gun, the provincial administration said on social media.
"The perpetrator has been captured," Deputy Superintendent Wichian Soboon told Reuters, adding that two people - a student and a teacher - were wounded in the incident.
"Police shot the suspect in the Hat Yai shooting," Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau said in a statement, after earlier saying he had been killed.
In a photograph shared by police, the suspect, barefoot and dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, is seen held down on the ground by armed officers.
According to a local official, the incident occurred at about 4.30pm to 4.45pm local time. Several shots were also heard within the last half hour, he said.
The suspect entered the school demanding to see a specific teacher and upon not being able to find the person, the suspect shot a school staff member, according to the official who spoke to Thai news outlet ThaiPBS.
The victim was injured and later released to receive medical attention.
Gun violence and ownership are not uncommon in Thailand, where a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and-knife attack at a nursery in the country's east in 2022.
