‘We locked the door and hid’: Student recalls school shooting horror

A Debsirin Nonthaburi School student recounted the harrowing experience of hiding inside a classroom for nearly 30 minutes during a deadly shooting on Friday that resulted in seven fatalities and numerous injuries. The Grade 12 student, from class M.6/10, recounted hearing gunshots while attending an English lesson. Initially, he assumed the sounds were from someone shooting at birds and opened the door to investigate; however, his classmate later warned that a teacher had been shot. Promptly, the class closed and locked the door, leaving no opportunity for the shooter to enter.

As the situation unfolded, the student observed the shooter moving from Building 5 to the ground floor, where they continued their journey towards Building 4, the location of his classroom. In response, he and his peers barricaded the door with tables and chairs, extinguished the lights, and assumed a crouched position to avoid detection.

They remained hidden for approximately an hour before the arrival of law enforcement, who instructed them to evacuate the area. The student expressed relief that no one in their classroom was harmed, adding that the shooter only passed their classroom without entering.

The young survivor attributed his knowledge of survival techniques to online videos, which guided his actions during the harrowing ordeal. Despite not knowing the suspect personally, he noted that the shooter was a younger student attending the same institution. Although still apprehensive following the incident, the student emphasized the importance of continuing his education and called for stricter security measures to prevent the presence of weapons within schools.