BANGKOK (AP) — More than 30 people, mostly children, were killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire at a daycare center in northeast Thailand, authorities said.
Police Maj. Gen. Achayon Kraithong said the shooting happened in the early afternoon in the center of Nongbua Lamphu town.
He said the attacker killed 30 people before killing himself. He had no further details.
A spokesman for a regional public affairs office said 26 deaths had been confirmed so far – 23 children, two teachers and a police officer.
According to Thai media, the shooter also used knives in the attack and then fled the building.
Photographs showed at least two bodies on the floor of the center covered in white sheets.
Several media outlets identified the attacker as a former local police lieutenant colonel, but there was no immediate official confirmation.
The Daily News newspaper reported that after fleeing the scene of the attack, the attacker returned home and committed suicide with his wife and child.