Police in Bangkok have charged a group of students from Saint Gabriel’s College, one of the country’s most prestigious private schools, after they were seen threatening and hitting another boy with an airsoft gun.
Reports on Saturday said the students, aged around 17, were facing a charge of assaulting a 14-year-old boy. They will be processed under juvenile justice procedures, according to Samsen police.
The video of the incident was circulated online as the country was reeling from a fatal school shooting in Nonthaburi province on Friday, raising concerns over violence among minors and the use of weapons.
Police investigators subsequently reported that the incident at St Gabriel’s occurred on July 21 and said that the gun seen in the video was an airsoft gun.
The video showed three boys wearing uniforms of the all-boys Catholic school in Dusit district. Two of them were standing over another boy, who was made to sit on the floor.
The older students, one of them holding the gun, were seen kicking the younger boy.
Hours after the video was circulated online, Saint Gabriel’s College issued a statement saying it had immediately launched a thorough fact-finding investigation by speaking with the students, their parents and other relevant parties.
The school said it had taken disciplinary action against the students involved and introduced safety and psychological support measures, with teachers and specialists assisting the affected student.
Brother Dr Surakit Srisarankulwong, the school director, said it does not condone or support any form of violence.
‘Such behaviour contradicts the values of respect for human dignity, peaceful coexistence and the identity of being ‘the gentlemen of Saint Gabriel’s’, which the school seeks to instil in all its students,’ he said.
Police on Saturday summoned the students involved and their parents for questioning as part of the legal process for juvenile cases.
Thai media reported that one of the older students is the son of an official at a Provincial Administrative Organisation in the Northeast.
St Gabriel’s, established in 1920, counts dozens of the country’s most illustrious business, political and military figures among its alumni. Tuition fees range from around 45,000 to 60,000 baht per term.