United News of Bangladesh

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has pledged to introduce tougher gun-control measures following a shooting by a 14-year-old student that killed eight people and injured 22 others on the outskirts of Bangkok. The teenager first killed his 73-year-old grandfather and 74-year-old grandmother at their home in Nonthaburi before going to Debsirin School, where he was a student. At the school, he opened fire and killed five teachers before taking his own life. A student later died from injuries sustained in the attack, according to Thai media. Speaking after the incident, Anutin said he would seek to introduce new laws restricting the carrying of firearms in public. Under the proposed rules, only government officials carrying out their duties would be allowed to carry guns. The prime minister said the tragedy should never have happened. “I don't just feel sorry for the victims but I feel sorry that this happened. How can this happen in our country,” he said. Police Colonel Thadsakorn Konthong said the gun and ammunition used in the attack belonged to the teenager’s grandfather. An initial inspection indicated that the teenager had searched for the firearm in his grandfather’s bedroom. Thai and international media reported that the weapon was legally registered and covered by a valid permit. Thailand has one of Southeast Asia’s highest levels of civilian gun ownership, with an estimated 10.3 million firearms in civilian hands. About 4 million of them are believed to be illegally owned. Although Thailand has strict laws, with illegal gun possession punishable by up to 10 years in prison, enforcement has remained a challenge. Anutin introduced several gun-control measures while serving as interior minister, including a temporary suspension of new gun licences and restrictions on firearm imports. Attack at schoolPolice said the teenager is believed to have shot his grandparents at around 5am Friday at their two-storey home. Each was killed by a single gunshot, according to a police official. After the killings, the teenager reportedly boarded a school bus carrying the firearm and dozens of rounds of ammunition. He attended his first class at around 8:30am and his second at about 9:20am. Around 30 minutes into the second class, he pulled out the gun and opened fire. Police Major General Dejrapee Kongdee said the teenager first shot three teachers on the school’s sixth floor. He then went downstairs and encountered the school’s deputy director and the director’s secretary, who were going upstairs to investigate the incident. Both were shot dead on the staircase, the police officer said. Police arrived while the shooting was still underway and found the teenager at around 10:40am after he had shot himself, Dejrapee said. Five people were killed immediately and at least 23 others were injured. Later, Thailand’s public broadcaster and the Bangkok Post reported that another victim had died, bringing the death toll to eight. National police chief Gen Kittiratt Phanphet said forensic investigators found that the teenager’s shooting was relatively accurate, with several bullets striking vital parts of the victims’ bodies. Anutin said the attack appeared to have been carefully planned, with “clear steps and clear goals.” Local media reported that police searching the teenager’s electronic devices found several videos related to school shootings in the United States. Family members described the teenager as quiet and well behaved. His uncle told Thai media that he spent much of his time indoors playing violent video games and rarely went outside, but there had been no clear sign that he was planning an attack. The teenager had been living with his grandparents following his parents’ divorce. Founded in Bangkok in 1885, Debsirin School is one of Thailand’s well-known secondary schools. Its alumni include diplomats, athletes and several former prime ministers. Source: BBC

Two college students died after their motorcycle collided with a pickup van and a battery-run autorickshaw in Gowainghat upazila of Sylhet on Wednesday.  The deceased were identified as Rifat Ahmed Kibria, 19, son of Shafiqul Rahman, and Abu Sufian, 19, son of Farid Uddin. Both were residents of Bhitorgul village of the upazila, said Gowainghat Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sarkar Tofayel Ahmed. The deceased were students of Gowainghat Government College, said the OC. Father ‘kills’ daughter in Habiganj over ‘mobile addiction’ According to police and locals, around 1:15 pm, Rifat and Sufian were riding a motorcycle on their way home after finishing their exam at Gowainghat Government College. After reaching Soti village, their motorcycle collided with the pickup  and the autorickshaw.  Later, locals rescued the injured students and took them to Gowainghat Upazila Health Complex, where the duty doctor declared Rifat dead. Abu Sufian, who was critically injured, was referred to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment but succumbed to his injuries there. ‘Motorbike lifter’ lynched in Thakurgaon No arrests have been made in connection with the incident yet, added the OC. 

Police have arrested the driver and the helper of  the bus that killed a female student of Northern University near Jamuna Future Park in the city on Sunday. Md Liton, 38, driver of the ‘Victor Paribahan’ bus and son of Kalu Mia of Illasha village of Bhola district, and his herper Abul Khair, 22, son of Hashem Gharami of the same district, were arrested from Badda area in the city on Monday morning. Police also seized the bus involved in the accident, said Abdul Ahad, deputy commissioner (Gulshan) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Read more: Northern University student killed in road crash Earlier on Sunday, Nadia, 24, a Pharmacy department 4th year student of Northern University,  died when the bus hit the motorcycle carrying her near Jamuna Future Park in the city. A case was filed at Vatara police station under Road Transport Act -2018 in this connection on Sunday.

A 20-year-old college student was killed in Chuadanga town Saturday after a truck hit his battery-run motorcycle and ran over him, police said. The deceased was identified as Rezwan Malik of Stadium Para of the town. He was a student at Chuadanga Vocational Institute. Read: HSC examinee electrocuted in Jashore The accident occurred around 3pm in the Railbazar area as the speeding truck knocked down the two-wheeler and ran over Rezwan, who died at the scene, Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Chuadanga Sadar Police Station, said. "Police seized the vehicle and caught its driver. The body was sent to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy," the OC added.  

A student opened fire on officers responding to a report of a possible gunman at a Tennessee high school Monday, and police shot back and killed him, authorities said. The shooting wounded an officer and comes as the community reels from off-campus gun violence that has left three other students dead this year. Police found the student in a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, a city about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east of Nashville, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David B. Rausch said at a news conference. They ordered the student to come out, but he wouldn’t comply, and that’s when he reportedly opened fire, Rausch said. Police fired back. The student died at the school, and the officer was taken into surgery after being shot at least once in the upper leg, authorities said. The officer was expected to recover, and no one else was hurt. It wasn’t yet clear why the student brought a gun to school or why he fired at officers. Also read: Child among 4 dead in shooting at California office building “It’s a sad day for Knoxville, and it’s tough for Austin-East,” Rausch said. Asked about the overwhelming police response to a call that came in just before afternoon dismissal, Knoxville Police Chief Eve Thomas said, “We have a student, a school incident. It’s our worst fear, an active shooter in a school.” The shooting comes as more classrooms are reopening to students after months of remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic, which cut down the number of mass killings in the U.S. The nation has seen series of mass shootings in recent weeks, including eight people killed at three Atlanta-area massage businesses on March 16 and 10 people killed at Colorado supermarket on March 22. Knox County Schools restarted in-person learning in January, but Austin-East Magnet High School went back to virtual instruction briefly in February after the spate of shooting deaths of students. The school will be closed again Tuesday and Wednesday. Speaking outside a hospital, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon told news station WATE-TV that she spoke with the wounded officer and he was conscious and in good spirits. Kincannon, a former Knox County Schools board president, spoke at a February press conference about the gun violence that took the lives of three Austin-East students less than three weeks apart this year. Two of the victims were 15, and the other was 16. Also read: Atlanta-area shootings leave 8 dead, many of Asian descent “I know that school is a safe place,” Kincannon said at that time, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. “It’s a place where people are learning. ... The issues with violence are happening in the community, and it’s affecting kids when they’re outside of the school. That’s why we are focusing our efforts to protect the innocent, protect the school, protect the children and students and staff.” The newspaper reported that the school was adding three school resource officers and stepping up patrols around dismissal time. State Rep. Sam McKenzie, who represents the district and went to the school, said in a statement: “I am at a loss to describe my sadness as yet another horrific act of gun violence has happened in my community,” urging people to “reclaim the sanctity of our beloved neighborhood.” “This is the fourth unnecessary shooting involving the Austin East community this year and we must make sure we take every step and make every effort to prevent these tragedies from continuing to occur,” McKenzie’s statement said. Gov. Bill Lee mentioned the shooting at a Monday news conference but said he had little information. Also read: Customers, staff fired back in gun store shooting; 3 dead “I just wanted to make reference to that and ask, for those who are watching, online or otherwise, to pray for that situation and for the families and the victims that might be affected by that in our state,” he said. Last week, the Republican governor signed legislation that will make Tennessee the latest state to allow most adults 21 and older to carry handguns — openly or concealed — without first clearing a background check and training. Lee backed the legislation over objections from law enforcement groups, who argued that the state’s existing permit system provided an important safeguard for knowing who should or shouldn’t be carrying a gun.

A college student was stabbed to death and another injured by a mugger in the city's Uttara area on Wednesday night.

A college boy was killed after his motorbike crashed into the gate of a roadside house in Char Joypara village in Dohar upazila here on Monday night.