Man shoots and kills six family members and himself at New Years’ party

A Thai man, who felt disregarded by his in-laws at a family gathering, shot his six family members dead, which included his two children before he turned the gun on himself. The incident happened in the southern province of Chumphon.

Sucheep Sornsung (41) started a row with his family members as he felt ignored and insulted by his in-laws at their New Years’ party. Ten minutes past midnight, he shot six of his family members, including his six-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son, and four people (two men, and two women) aged between 47 and 71, who all belonged to Sucheep’s wife’s family, who managed to survive the assault.

“The suspect went to a party with his friends then came home to see his wife’s family and they started arguing before he used his gun to shoot them. According to witnesses, the man did not drink a lot and we suspect that his rage came from old problems with his wife’s family. They were shot either in the head or the torso. He was angry that as the son-in-law, he was not being made welcome by his wife’s family,” the commander of Chumphon provincial police reported.

According to data, Thailand has the highest reported rate of gun-related deaths of the ten countries in Asia. Apparently, the shootings often came as a result of petty personal disputes.