Teachers and students collectively gathered this morning to mourn the death of a teacher who was wrongfully shot and killed during a shooting by vocational school students this weekend.
Faculty and students from the Sacred Heart Convent School gathered in front of the TMBThanachart bank in Bangkok’s Sunthonkosa road where they paid respects and laid flowers and wreaths for 45-year-old teacher Sirada Sinprasert, who was shot in the head by a stray bullet fired by two unidentified vocational school students riding a motorcycle.
The two culprits, who remain at large, had fired the gun in an apparent attempt to shoot a university student belonging to another vocational school.
Staff had said Sirada, who was known in school as “Kru Jeab”, was a lovable person who always helped and cared for everyone. She had been an assistant computer teacher at the school for 27 years.
The untimely death of Kru Jeab, who hailed from Suphanburi, came as a shock to everyone as she was not involved in the conflict – she was sadly at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The school, as well as their parents and alumni association, provided financial assistance and funeral expenses for Kru Jeab. The funds have been collected by the school’s accounting department, who will officially hand over the contributions to Kru Jeab’s parents.
Prayers for the deceased are held now until tomorrow at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Suphanburi’s Song Phi Nong district.
On Saturday, Sirada was withdrawing money from an ATM at TMBThanachart bank when she was suddenly shot in the head during the shooting. She was taken to MedPark Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
The two culprits were targeting Thanasorn Hongsawat, 19, a first-year student at Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus. He was shot twice in the chest and once in the neck. He was rushed to Chulalongkorn Hospital in critical but stable condition. Thanasorn’s mother said her son is a student who studies hard and was not involved in any school conflicts.
Deputy government spokesperson Kanika Aunjit said on Sunday that authorities were investigating the matter, and promised to take steps to prevent bloody rivalries between vocational school students.
Security guards were seen deployed at the school from 6am to 5pm.
Vocational school rivalries are common in Thailand, leading to acts of extreme violence, with many of the more severe cases ending in the deaths of students.
“I want to convey a message to the person responsible for this incident: How do they feel about what they have done?” Manchu Chuenjit, whose child goes to Sacred Heart Convent School, told reporters. “It’s unfortunate that it ended with a teacher who knew nothing about the situation losing their life. Right now, my child is sad because a beloved teacher is gone, and I, myself, feel a great deal of anxiety. The fact that the police have not yet apprehended the culprit adds to the worry.”
