BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th February, 2020) The death tolls from the mass shooting in the central Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima rose to 30 people, the local news outlet, Khaosod, said on Sunday, citing the police.
On Saturday, a 32-year-old soldier, identified as Jakrapanth Thomma, started a mass shooting between a military base, a Buddhist temple and a shopping mall, where he took several people hostage. The assailant was finally eliminated, police said on Sunday morning.
Previously, the death toll stood at 27 people, including the perpetrator.
The news outlet also added, citing the military spokesman, Col Vinthai Suvari, that the armed forces of Thailand were set to introduce extra safety measures in military units throughout the country.
"When the situation will get better, we will study the chain of events ... to adjust existing measures for greater effectiveness," Suvari said, as quoted by the Khaosod.
Thomma was reportedly armed with stolen weaponry from his military unit, including with an automatic weapon, a sniper rifle, pistols and grenades.
Moreover, the gunmen barricaded himself in the storeroom of Foodland, a supermarket located in the mall where he held hostages, the police said on Facebook.
"In fact, he did not leave the building [mall], but returned to the storeroom. Wounded civilians were in the room next to the storeroom, some of them died. Due to the impossibility to capture the shooter alive, he was neutralized during a clash in the basement of the building," the message said.
In addition, the police posted a 17-hour-long video of the last phrase of the operation, including the scenes when special forces eliminated the shooter.
