Police volunteers Aphichart Boonnoi and Chaiyawuth Sripunpao, volunteering out of the Nawang Pong-Saket police box, along with Sen. Sgt. Maj. Jarong Changruan, chased down the suspect after the armed robbery.
The unidentified suspect was shot three times with a 38-caliber handgun near Uncle Sam’s Coconut Factory May 27.
The fatal shots allegedly came from a handgun produced by one of the volunteers, and at press time police have declined to reveal which one. They did, however, confiscate the volunteer’s weapon and five remaining bullets. So far, no charges have been brought, pending investigation, even though it is illegal for police volunteers to possess any kind of firearm.
The incident began after reports that the dead man and his heavyset partner had robbed two women at gunpoint of 40 baht.
Based on their descriptions, police believed the two alleged thieves had committed numerous previous robberies on their Honda Wave motorbike. Police also declined to reveal their names, pending investigation.
The fleeing suspects ran into police and the two volunteers after turning onto 36th Street and tried to turn around and escape. Before they could, however, allegedly one of the volunteers fired three shots, hitting the pillion-riding suspect. The other suspect escaped.
