Key Points
- Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha called the attack a "shocking incident".
- Flags in the country are flying at half-mast to honour those killed.
It's one of the world's worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history.
At least 37 people, most of them children were killed during .
The killer later shot dead his wife and child at their home before turning his weapon on himself, police have said.
Here's what we know so far.
What happened in the childcare centre attack in Thailand?
Armed with a shotgun, pistol and knife, the attacker opened fire on the childcare centre in northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province, just after midday.
The acting chief of the nursery, described harrowing scenes as the attacker barged into the building in the rural Uthai Sawan district.
"There were some staff eating lunch outside the nursery and the attacker parked his car and shot four of them dead," Nanthicha Punchum said.
"The shooter smashed down the door with his leg and then came inside and started slashing the children's heads with a knife.
"He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Utai Sawan daycare centre."
An armed police officer standing guard as relatives of the victims of a mass shooting gather at a childcare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province, northeastern Thailand. The age range of the children at the daycare centre is from two to five years, a local official said. Credit: Ruamkatanyu Foundation
A number of people spoke to local media about the terrifying attack.
"He was heading towards me and I begged him for mercy, I didn't know what to do," one distraught woman told ThaiPBS, fighting back tears.
"He didn't say anything, he shot at the door while the kids were sleeping," another woman said.
Police spokesman Paisal Luesomboon described the scene as harrowing.
"It's a scene that nobody wants to see,” they said.
Footage after the incident showed distraught parents weeping in a shelter outside the nursery, a yellow single-storey building set in a garden.
Who were the victims?
Photographs taken at the daycare centre by the rescue team and shared with Reuters showed the tiny bodies of those killed laid out on blankets.
National Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat told a news conference 23 of the 37 people killed had been children.
Among the dead are the assailant’s wife and child and another 12 people were wounded in the attack.
Emergency workers inspect coffins containing the bodies of victims at a hospital in Udon Thani, Thailand. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha says the rampage is a "shocking incident". Source: Getty / Lauren DeCicca
While police did not provide further detail, they said a few children had survived the mass killing.
How did it happen?
Mr Damrongsak said the pistol used had been purchased legally and was a privately owned weapon, not police property.
While Thailand has high rates of gun ownership, mass shootings are rare.
In the past year, there have been at least two other cases of shooting murders by serving soldiers, according to local media.
A relative of one of the victims cries outside the childcare centre where the attack took place. Source: AP / Sakchai Lalit
In 2020, in one of the kingdom's deadliest incidents in recent years, and wounded scores more before he was shot dead by commandos.
Who is the killer?
Police identified the gunman as Panya Khamrab, a former Thai police officer.
The 34-year-old has recently lost his job as a police sergeant.
He was suspended in January and sacked in June for drug use, Mr Damrongsak told reporters.
"As far as I know he was due in court tomorrow for a drug-related trial," he said.
Witness Paweena Purichan, 31, said the attacker was well-known in the area as a drug addict.
Why did he do it?
While the police chief said the attacker had been in a manic state, it was not known if he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack.
"What happened today will be a lesson to prevent this happening again in the future," he said.
Emergency workers carry coffins containing the bodies of victims on 6 October at a hospital in Udon Thani, Thailand. The mass killing comes less than a month after an army officer shot dead two colleagues at a military training base in the capital Bangkok. Source: Getty / Sirachai Arunrugstichai
"This should not happen. This absolutely should not happen," he told reporters.
"I am extremely sorry for those who were injured and lost (their loved ones)."
How are world leaders responding?
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted it was "impossible to comprehend the heartbreak of this horrific news".
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said "our hearts break for the families and the community", while federal opposition leader Peter Dutton said it is a .
"I am shocked to hear of the horrific events in Thailand this morning. My thoughts are with all those affected and the first responders," British Prime Minister Liz Truss tweeted.
The White House and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres both expressed shock at the attack and sent condolences to the victims' families.
What happens now?
Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Prime Minister Prayut will later visit survivors of the attack.
Overnight, coffins carrying the victims' bodies arrived at a morgue in Udon Thani, the closest city to the sleepy rural district ripped apart by Thursday's three-hour rampage. Outside the nursery — a low building in a local government complex fronted by a lawn — scores of people gathered on Friday to mourn and pay their respects.
Some wept inconsolably, wiping their eyes as loved ones hugged them. Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast on Friday in a gesture of mourning for one of the deadliest days in recent Thai history.
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