Mourners hold candlelight vigil for victims of Thai mass shooting

Thousands of people holding candles attended a vigil in northeastern Thailand on Sunday for the victims of a mass shooting by a rogue soldier who killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 others before being shot dead.

Monks led prayers as people laid down white flowers in memory of the victims at the vigil, which was held by the statue of a historic local heroine, Thao Suranari, in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima. Some shed tears as they remembered the dead.

Thai security forces evacuate students stranded inside the Terminal 21 shopping mall following a gun battle to stop a soldier on a shooting rampage in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, February 9, 2020. /Reuters Photo

"You have this rage, it fills you," said local resident Chirathip Kurapakorn at the vigil. "I have two kids of my own and just thinking about those lives in there. I could not sleep at all last night. I was just trying to get the right news and just wanted to help somehow, but I just could not."

"It just happened right here in our hometown behind us, like right in our heart of everything. It's just tragic."

The killings began at around 15:00 local time (0800 GMT) on Saturday when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then to the mall, where he shot bystanders as he moved inside.

The soldier, identified as 32-year-old Jakrapanth Thomma, was finally shot dead by security forces early on Sunday in the basement of the mall. Most of the victims were killed at the city's Terminal 21 shopping center, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammunition stolen from his army base.

Prime Minister of Thailand Prayuth Chan-Ocha traveled to Nakhon Ratchasima on Sunday to meet wounded survivors, and told reporters from there that "it was a personal conflict... over a house deal."

Authorities are still piecing together details of the killing.

(Cover: A woman holds candlelight as she prays for victims who died in a shooting rampage by a Thai soldier, in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, February 9, 2020. /Reuters Photo)

(REUTERS)