Social media is going crazy over the circumstances of the fatal shooting.
Ambiguous facts and sketchy details have triggered a fiery online debate following a middle-aged engineer’s recent fatal shooting of a 17-year-old schoolboy.
Aggressive comments on social media have led to claims that the engineer, 50-year-old Suthep Poshsomboon, and his family have received death threats, prompting them to seek protection from the Justice Ministry.
The shooting took place in Chon Buri on Saturday after an argument about parking at a local market, which was followed by a road-rage incident and a fistfight.
They will possibly seek legal advice and apply for entry into the witness protection programme because the family had allegedly been threatened, he added.
Justice Ministry permanent secretary Chanchao Chaiyanukij said the ministry had a “justice clinic” in which representatives of the Lawyers’ Council of Thailand provided legal advice to the public.
He said officials would first consider people’s status in the case – as witnesses, damaged persons or suspects – and then consider if witness protection should be granted.
Suthep is from Bangkok, as was the deceased.
Social media has been dominated by a heated debate regarding the incident, following strong comments in the mainstream media by the dead teenager’s mother and his friends.
Celebrities have also given their opinions on social media, sympathising with the engineer.
Actress and TV talk-show host Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee said in an Instagram message yesterday that if she were in a situation in which her elderly mother and young child were being threatened by a group of youngsters, “I would have shot them with all the bullets in the magazine”.
However, she also said that everyone involved in the incident was wrong for allowing it to happen in the first place.
Actor and singer Parunyu “Tack” Rojanawuttitum said in an Instagram message: “I would have depleted my magazine. With children and old parents in the car, I would have to protect them and would not allow you to beat them up.”
Earlier, celebrity Kiat Kitcharoen said in a Facebook message: “I am 53. Should I have to allow youngsters to beat me up just because they are young? If I have a gun and I can’t shoot, do you want me to throw it at them?”
Meanwhile, police said yesterday the investigation into the incident could take months.
Police were waiting for forensic test results on the gun and a report on the suspect’s criminal history before they could end their investigation and pass the case report to prosecutors.
Camera footage of the incident appears to support evidence police already had that a group of teenagers surrounded and threatened the engineer and his family.
Both sides gave different accounts of the incident on social media.
The teenagers claim Suthep had chased them and they stopped their van to “negotiate” with him but he pulled out a gun and killed the student. Suthep claims the single gunshot was in self- defence because the teenagers were chasing him and allegedly surrounded his car, with his wife, mother and nephew inside.
Suthep has been charged with the lethal use of a firearm and murder and granted bail.
Rear-view camera footage available online yesterday, apparently from Suthep’s car, showed the van turning on its full-beam headlights while chasing Suthep’s vehicle.
Asked if the teenagers involved would face charges, police stated that Suthep had not filed a complaint. However, police are aware of an alleged threat against the life of Suthep on the Facebook page of the deceased student’s friend, which would entitle Suthep to file a lawsuit based on Computer Crime Act violations.
This is another tragic example of over reaction by both parties. A life has been lost over an alleged parking dispute and no way can there be any justification in that. Guns kill people and simply by owning one you are opening up the possibility of taking a life. Was the man in REAL danger or did reflexes get the better of him?
It is impossible to sit in judgement unless you are put in a similar situation, which hopefully will never be the case.
(Source: The Nation,Thailand)