December 27, 2011
BANGKOK (AFP) - A policeman in southern Thailand shot dead six fellow officers before turning the gun on himself after a drinking session in a police canteen turned sour, local police said Tuesday.
The incident, which also left one policeman severely wounded, took place late on Monday in a border patrol police camp in Phatthalung province, some 840 kilometres (520 miles) south of the capital Bangkok.
"Seven men were found dead including the gunman and one man has critical injuries," Phatthalung police investigator Lieutenant Colonel Prasit Singhapol told AFP by phone.
Prasit said the motive was still unknown but the eight men had been drinking together in the canteen where six of the bodies were found.
"At this stage we think it's a personal conflict," he said.
The gunman's body was found some 200 metres (yards) from the scene after he killed himself with the same assault rifle he used against his colleagues, Prasit said.
Police were unable to confirm local media reports that the group was celebrating the promotions of some of the men.
