LOP BURI, Jan 22 (TNA) – A 38-year-old primary school
director has confessed to killing three people, including a toddler, while
robbing a gold shop in Lop Buri province on January 9.
In a shocking revelation after a manhunt, police said
Prasitchai Khaokaew, a native of Lob Buri who serves as school director in Sing
Buri, committed the heinous crime that has captivated the nation.
CCTV footage shows the man wearing a full-face mask, black
shirt and camouflage trousers entered the gold shop inside a shopping mall and
started to open fires at customers, security guard and shop staff.
The victims are a female shop staffer, the security guard
and the two-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet in the head while
passing by the shop with his mother.
Since he fled the scene in his motorcycle, the public was
kept in the dark amid rumours and speculation until the robber’s identity was
revealed on Wednesday.
His Facebook page shows he posted photos of him and his
girlfriend enjoying drinks together.
Days later as massive manhunt was underway, his girlfriend also put up
photos of him attending school activities like nothing happened.
According to police, the man claimed he intended to be
extra-judicially killed by police. But
police has not concluded his motive. He
said he threw the gold jewelry worth about THB600,000 into a river but police
have not found them.
As the news broke, his colleagues at the school said they
were extremely surprised because Prasitchai who took the post in March last
year appeared to be a nice guy.
One of the teachers said Prasitchai was very polite;
however, he had brought his pistols to school many times.(TNA)
