THE Thai soldier who killed at least 20 people and holed up in a mall overnight was shot dead this morning by commandos, ending a nearly 17-hour ordeal that left dozens wounded and stunned the country.

It is unclear how many people are still inside the Terminal 21 shopping centre in Nakhon Ratchasima – also known as Korat – where the gunman held out through the night, armed with assault weapons stolen from his barracks.

Volleys of gunfire rang out as the siege ran into dawn today, hours after security services stormed the ground floor and freed scores of stunned and terrified shoppers from a bloody rampage that the shooter – a junior army officer identified as Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma – had relayed via Facebook posts.

“He was shot dead 30 minutes ago (0200 GMT),” Crime Suppression Division head Jirabhob Bhuridej told AFP.

Commandos from elite police units killed the gunman, said a police spokesman, after an operation involving hundreds of security personnel.

“The official death toll is 20 and (the) wounded 42… nine are in surgery,” Narinrat Pitchayakamin, a Korat doctor, told reporters, revising down the initial toll of 21.

It is not yet clear how many more victims are inside the multi-level complex, which was packed with shoppers yesterday when the gunman stormed in.

Last night was peppered with heavy exchanges of gunfire and sporadic evacuations.

A police officer who took part in a raid to flush out the shooter died, according to Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

“He was hit, and unfortunately, he did not make it.”

Jakrapanth relayed his shooting spree through Facebook posts charting the attack from the army barracks in the city to the mall.

A volunteer rescue worker recounted a horrific scene after his team carried four corpses to hospital.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Peerapong Chatadee.

“I just feel so sad. He is a soldier, he should not have fired at unarmed people.”

The bloodshed began yesterday afternoon when Jakrapanth shot three people – at least one soldier among them – at a senior officer’s house and then the nearby army barracks, before driving an army vehicle to the town centre.

Throughout the day, Jakrapanth uploaded images of himself and wrote several Facebook posts as the attack unfolded, including “should I surrender?” and “no one can escape death”.

In one since-deleted video, the assailant, wearing an army helmet and filming from an open jeep, said “I’m tired… I can’t pull my finger any more”, and made a trigger symbol with his hand.

Korat is home to one of the largest barracks in Thailand, a country where the military is enmeshed in politics and society.

The nation also has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, and several shootings at courthouses last year renewed concern about gun violence. – AFP, February 9, 2020.