The shooting happened in Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima Province, known as Korat. It was later reported that the gunman had entered a shopping mall, with police urging members of the public stuck inside the building to remain "calm."
Krissana Pattanacharoen, a police spokesman, told CNN: "At the moment we are trying to capture the guy. Both police and military forces have been deployed to the area."
The motive of the gunman remained unknown, Pattanacharoen said.
The military commander, Lt. General Thanya Kiatsarn, who is at the scene of the shooting, told CNN: "We can't confirm if there are any hostages taken. But we believe he [the shooter] is still holding inside Terminal 21 shopping mall. We are working on this."
The suspect was named as Sub. Lt. Jakrapanth Thomma of the Thai army, according to defense ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich.
He is an ammunition battalion officer working for the 22nd Ammunition Battalion. Kongcheep said: "In general any military would be good at guns, but this man certainly has more skills."
The gunman had a quarrel with his superior and ended up shooting and killing him, Kongcheep said. He then took the superior's gun and went around shooting his colleagues. Aside from the superior, it's unknown if any other military personnel were killed.
The soldier also stole guns and a military Humvee from his quarter. At least one machine gun was stolen but Lt. Gen. Tantravanich could not confirm how many guns and how much ammunition were taken.
After the shooter escaped from his quarter, he drove to the shopping mall and shot civilians along the way.
The country's Crime Suppression Division (CSD), part of the Thai police, tweeted its advice to those stuck inside the mall: "Please be calm, find a safe place to hide and mute your mobile phones."
It added that they could send their current locations, the number of people with them and their contact numbers to the inbox "#KoratShooting #CSD."
Thailand's main telecommunications body has reportedly urged Thai broadcasters not to broadcast live footage from near the mall to avoid hindering on-going security efforts.
A statement sent out by Spokesman Lt General Kongcheep Tantrawanich said that "a combined force of police and military has started their operation to evacuate people who have been stuck inside the building," adding that the officers were doing their best to control the situation.
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha earlier sent his condolences to the families of those killed or injured in the attack via a post on his official Twitter page.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMi8wOC9hc2lhL3RoYWktc29sZGllci1zaG9vdGluZy1pbnRsL2luZGV4Lmh0bWzSAU1odHRwczovL2FtcC5jbm4uY29tL2Nubi8yMDIwLzAyLzA4L2FzaWEvdGhhaS1zb2xkaWVyLXNob290aW5nLWludGwvaW5kZXguaHRtbA?oc=5
2020-02-08 17:02:00Z
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