An 18-year-old gunman killed one person and injured two others before being shot and arrested by police at a school in southern Thailand on Wednesday, according to local media and officials.

The attack took place at Phatong Prathan Keeriwat School in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province, shortly before dismissal time. Authorities said the suspect entered the school grounds at 4:45 p.m. local time in what officials described as “an agitated state while carrying a gun.”

The Bangkok Post reported that the assailant was shot and wounded by police prior to his arrest. The school director later died in hospital after being injured in the shooting. Two others were wounded.

According to provincial authorities, the attacker initially took a female teacher hostage before police secured the area and brought the situation under control.

Officials believe the suspect seized an M4 rifle from police officers who had been responding to reports that an 18-year-old man was attempting to harm his mother at a nearby house. The weapon was allegedly taken during that earlier incident before the suspect entered the school.

Police surrounded the premises, evacuated students and staff from safe areas, and apprehended the suspect. Authorities confirmed that the hostage was freed.

Gun ownership is not uncommon in Thailand. In 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and-knife attack at a nursery in eastern Thailand, one of the country’s deadliest mass killings.

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