NAKHON RATCHASIMA - Motorcycle theft suspects attacked people with a shotgun and knife at a fair in Dan Khun Thot district of this northeastern province late Wednesday night. An arrested assailant said his group had been unfairly accused of bike theft.
The attack happened at the fair in front of the Pho Khun Thot Monument at 10.30pm on Wednesday. A shotgun was fired repeatedly. Five people were wounded, two of them seriously. Another man was cut with a knife.
Police subsequently arrested Nathakit Duekkhunthot, a 32-year-old native of Dan Khun Thot district, and also seized his unregistered gun.
He told police that fair organisers were accusing his friend of trying to steal a motorcycle and he wanted to help his friend as both sides were fighting. He admitted to firing his gun at others.
Prakob Patithin, a fair organiser, said the attackers fired their shotgun repeatedly when the fair was about to close and vendors were collecting their belongings. He was slashed with a knife on his back and fingers. Three men and two women were shot in their torsos and limbs.
The two most seriously injured victims were transferred from Luangpor Khoon Parisutho Hospital in Dan Khun Thot to Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital in Muang district. Police are hunting for other suspects.
