Violence and atrocities : children

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Massacre of children in Thailand in a knife and gun rampage, condolences pour in

It was a sad day for Thailand when a former police sergeant, discharged over drug allegations, shot and knifed children and staff in a daycare center. The assailant targeted the children, aged between two and five. He slashed them to death, and shot the adults. It happens to be one of the world's worst death tolls of children massacred by a single killer. The killer was facing trial on a drugs charge. The tragedy happened in Uthai Sawan, a town about 310 miles northeast of Bangkok, the capital of the largely Buddhist country. After committing the massacre, he left the daycare centre, went home and shot dead his wife and son before taking his own life. Families traumatised by Thailand attack cling to slain children's toys. The national police chief Damrongsak Kittipraphat said - "The reasons are probably unemployment, no money, and family issues," he said, adding that the attacker and his wife had had "longstanding problems."

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha met the families of the victims. He lay flowers and observed a moment of silence in front of the centre. King Maha also Vajiralongkorn visited the hospital. The Vatican said Pope Francis was deeply saddened by the "horrific attack." He condemned it as an "act of unspeakable violence against innocent children." Incidentally, there have been earlier instances of death in schools in other parts of the world. In Norway in 2011, Anders Breivik killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp. Later, in 2012, it was the killing of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. In 1996, the toll as of 16 at Dunblane in Scotland and 19 at a school in Uvalde, Texas, this year. As far as Thailand goes, it has strict gun laws but gun ownership is high when compared with some Southeast Asian countries. Moreover, illegal weapons are common, with many brought in from strife-torn neighbours.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Shooting incident in school in Russia kills at least 17, injures another 24 - gunman takes his own life

A gunman opens fire in a school in central Russia, kills at least 17 people and injures another 24 before committing suicide. The tragic incident happened in the city of Izhevsk, a city located some 600 miles east of Moscow. Russian authorities have identified the gunman. He was in his early 30s and a graduate of the same school. It seems he wore a black T-shirt bearing “Nazi symbols.” His motives are still shrouded in mystery. The dead included 11 children. Another 22 children suffered injuries in the attack. According to the governor of Udmurtia, Alexander Brechalov, the gunman was registered as a patient at a psychiatric facility. He committed suicide after the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the attack as “inhuman.” Russia: At least 17 dead, 24 wounded in Izhevsk school shooting. A spokesman of the Kremlin said - “President Putin deeply mourns the deaths of people, children, at a school where there was a terrorist attack by a person, who apparently belongs to a neo-fascist group.” He added - the president wishes for the recovery of those injured as a result of this inhuman terrorist attack.

Authorities of Russia reveals that the gunman used two non-lethal handguns adapted to fire real bullets. The guns were not registered. The authorities have launched criminal investigation into the incident on charges of multiple murders and illegal possession of firearms. After the incident, students were made to evacuate the premises and it was cordoned off. The school caters to children aged six to 17. The population of the city of Izhevsk is about 640,000 people and it is located west of the Ural Mountains in central Russia. While shooting in schools is more frequent in the United States and many other countries, it is not so in Russia. In April 2022, a man killed two children and a teacher at a kindergarten in the central Ulyanovsk region before killing himself. Before that, in May 2021, a lone teenage gunman opened fire in the city of Kazan and killed nine people. Seven of them were children. In another incident of 2018, a student at a college in Russian-annexed Crimea killed 20 people. Then he committed suicide. Incidentally, in Russia, military service is compulsory for men aged between 18 and 27. There have been a few incidents in the past of death from gun violence in the military.