The Japan Times - Students, teachers mourn girl killed in Thailand school shooting

The 14-year-old assailant shot dead the grandparents who raised him at their home north of Bangkok on Friday before killing six others at his school, using his grandfather's handgun, and then turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

Investigators are still seeking a motive, but police said on Sunday the boy had watched violent videos online and once brought a BB gun to school. Officials said earlier he faced academic-related stress and a classmate said he was bullied.

Mourners dressed in black gathered on Sunday in the pavilion of Wat Lat Pla Duk in Nonthaburi province, bordering Bangkok, where the body of the slain schoolgirl, Naphat Chaima, lay for a ceremonial bath.

She died in hospital on Saturday after suffering gunshot wounds at the school, police said. Five teachers and school staff were also killed on Friday.

Mourners took turns gently pouring water over a hand of the deceased while others lit incense sticks and folded their hands in prayer.

"She was a good kid. A kid who loved to do every activity," said the girl's music teacher, who declined to give her name.

"She loved to dance."

Several psychologists were available to consult with grieving children under the care of their parents, an AFP journalist saw.

Another woman said her 12-year-old daughter was a classmate of the dead girl. They had done cheerleading together.

"This family lost their daughter. I came to support the mother" who lost her child too soon, she told AFP.

She said she wanted the school to tighten security, questioning how the teenage shooter could have brought a gun and bullets into the school.

However, ultimately the incident was "beyond anyone's control", she said.

Her daughter was able to exit a school building, physically unharmed, through a back door, she said.

- 'Real cause' -

Investigators have interviewed 17 witnesses and were examining the boy's computer and phone to determine the "real cause of the shooting", Atthapol Anusit, a deputy police commander for the region surrounding the capital, told reporters earlier.

"We looked into his PC and found history that he watched violent videos on social media," Atthapol said.

"From questioning the kids, we know that he brought a BB gun to school last year but a teacher seized it."

Witnesses told police the boy had been interested in guns for a year or two, Atthapol said, adding that he had learned how to use one by watching content on social media.

The child had lived with his grandparents since he was two years old after his parents had separated, he said.

The boy's father apologised "to society for what my son did" on Friday, according to local media.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has said the boy experienced school-related stress, and his dead grandmother was a former teacher who had been "quite strict on him about studying".

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation -- roughly one for every seven inhabitants.

Officials have promised stricter gun laws since Friday's shooting, but previous pledges have failed to prevent repeated shootings.

T.Kobayashi--JT