Ex-soldier goes on shooting rampage in Thai Covid-19 hospital, mistaking patients for drug addicts

Two people have been killed, including a hospitalized Covid-19 patient, after a former soldier, dressed in combat uniform and a red beret, attacked a coronavirus field hospital in Pathum Thani Province.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, shortly after the attack took place, regional Police Chief Amphol Buarabporn said that an initial investigation suggested the shooter mistook the Covid-19 patients for drug addicts, adding that he hated drug users. 

Buarabporn confirmed that the attacker, a former soldier, believed to be 23 years old, had killed two people. One, a patient, was killed in the hospital, while a shop worker was shot dead earlier over a dispute in Bangkok.

The field hospital in Pathum Thani where the ex-soldier fired gunshots had previously been a drug rehabilitation center and had been refitted to treat Covid-19 patients.

Footage from CCTV shows the man, identified by local media as Kawin Saengnilkul, dressed in a red beret, full combat gear and brandishing a weapon, entering the hospital and leaving a victim behind him. 

The suspect was later arrested. Reports suggest the assailant was driving a white Isuzu truck which was incepted by police in Chumphon province. 

In February last year, another young soldier killed 29 people in a shooting spree at a Thai shopping mall. He had killed his commanding officer before taking hostages at the mall.

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