ASEAN

Mentally ill man kills cop before taking own life in hostage standoff

KUALA LUMPUR: A mentally ill man committed suicide after killing a police officer who was attempting to negotiate an end to a hostage situation in Bang Bon district, Bangkok, early Sunday morning.

The Bangkok Post reported that police responded to a call at 9.45pm on Saturday about a gunman holding his family hostage in a three-storey building located in a housing estate in the district.

Lieutenant Colonel Kittichon Janyarom, 59, who was also a police station deputy chief, and his team approached the building to negotiate. He was shot three times in the chest and hand and later pronounced dead at Mali Hospital. A police senior sergeant major was slightly injured in the incident.

After the shooting, police rescued the family members, including a 15-year-old daughter who had been hit in the face with a gun. She reported that her father had four guns, including a shotgun, and ammunition.

A rescue worker said that the man had been sent to a mental health facility last month but had threatened to harm the rescue workers at that time. He had not been treated and had failed to take his prescribed medications for a year.

The gunman, identified only as Boonma, 49, was found dead on a mezzanine.

Overnight, police instructed neighbours to stay indoors while they attempted to calm the gunman. Using a loudspeaker, they negotiated, and gunshots were heard intermittently.

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