Teacher killed after teenage gunman opens fire at Hat Yai school

A teacher and school director, identified as Sasiphat Sinsamosorn, died after a 17-year-old opened fire at Patongprathankiriwat School in Hat Yai district, Songkhla Province, provincial officials said on social media. The shooting occurred on Wednesday and Sasiphat succumbed to her wounds in hospital in the early hours of Thursday, the Health Ministry said, attributing her death to internal organ injuries and significant blood loss at around 2 a.m.

Police detained the suspect at the scene. Officials said he used a firearm that had been stolen from a police officer and that he has a sister who attends the school. Authorities also said the teenager has a history of substance abuse and was discharged from a psychiatric hospital in December; the year of that discharge was not specified. No name for the suspect has been released in the material provided so far.

A female student was also shot during the incident; authorities have not released details of her condition. Sasiphat was taken to an intensive care unit and underwent surgery before she died, according to the Health Ministry statement. The school posted a condolence message on its Facebook page, saying, “although we have lost you, the memories and the goodness you left behind will remain in our heart forever.”

Photographs from the scene showed forensic teams and police at the campus. One caption accompanying those images read, “Members of the forensic team and a police officer walk near the building inside Patongprathankiriwat School, where a gunman held an unknown number of students and teachers hostage.” The hostage detail appears only in photo captions and has not been quantified in official statements released so far.

The attack in Hat Yai underscores persistent challenges in Thailand over access to firearms and the vulnerability of schools. Gun violence and ownership are not uncommon in the country, and authorities and residents recalled a 2002 massacre in which a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, at a nursery. That attack remains the deadliest school-related assault in modern Thai history and is often cited in discussions about gun control, police oversight and mental health interventions.

Beyond immediate tragedy, the incident will likely intensify scrutiny of several policy failures: the security of weapons issued to police, protocols for storing and tracking firearms, school safety measures, and the systems for monitoring and treating individuals with histories of substance abuse or psychiatric hospitalization. The fact that the suspect is a minor introduces legal and ethical constraints on disclosure and prosecution, and it will complicate public discussions about accountability and prevention.

Officials have not yet released a full timeline of the shooting, the suspect’s name, the exact circumstances by which the officer’s firearm was taken, or the charges to be filed. Investigators at the scene are expected to prioritize those lines of inquiry while authorities notify families and assess campus safety measures across the district. As the community mourns a school leader, the episode is likely to rekindle national debate about how Thailand prevents guns from reaching vulnerable individuals and how schools can be better protected.