At least 24 children and 11 adults were killed on Thursday in an attack that began at a child-care centre in northeastern Thailand, authorities said.
The gunman then fled the scene, shooting from his car as he drove home, where he killed his wife and child before taking his own life, police said.
The initial attack came at about 12:30 p.m. local time when the man, identified as a former police officer, entered the child-care centre in the town of Nongbua Lamphu, authorities said. The town is located some 500 kilometres northeast of Bangkok and some 300 kilometres south of the Laotian border.
Nineteen boys, three girls and two adults were killed in the building before the assailant fled, according to a police statement.
After the suspect fled, he continued to shoot from his car, hitting several people, police Maj. Gen. Paisal Luesomboon told The Associated Press.
Police said he killed another two children and nine adults outside the child-care centre, which includes his wife and his son.
Previous mass shooting in 2020
Firearm-related deaths in Thailand are much lower than in countries like the United States and Brazil, but higher than in other Asian countries like Japan and Singapore that have strict gun-control laws.
Last month, a clerk shot co-workers at Thailand's Army War College in Bangkok, killing two and wounding another before he was arrested.
The country's previous worst mass shooting involved a disgruntled soldier who opened fire in and around a mall in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima in 2020, killing 29 people and holding off security forces for some 16 hours before eventually being killed by them.
