“COUNT THE SHOTS”
In the middle of her shift at a public hospital on Friday morning, 52-year-old nurse Kwan said she received a panicked call from her older daughter – Khim’s sibling – to tell her of a shooting at their school.
Based on conversations on a student chat group that her elder daughter told her about, Kwan – who also asked to be identified by a nickname – said she assessed that the shooter was likely using a handgun.
Still on the phone, she asked her elder daughter to count the shots, estimating that a handgun magazine wouldn’t hold more than 15 to 20 rounds: “Count the shots to see if he’s out.”
Police said the alleged shooter had used at least 26 bullets. Another 34 rounds were found in his possession.
“But it turned out the sound kept getting closer and closer, eventually reaching Building 4, the building my daughter was in,” Kwan told Reuters on Saturday.
From another phone, she called an emergency hotline, on which the operator told her that police, including a specialised unit, had arrived at the school.
“I told them, ‘Right now, I am on speakerphone with my child. He is on the second floor, clearing rooms one by one from the right side,'” Kwan said.
Without warning, the call with her daughter cut off.
Kwan said she started praying, until her daughter called her back after a few minutes. She was unharmed.
Some hours later, the family were reunited at their home in suburban Bangkok, not far from the school.
“When we are together, we fight all the time,” Khim said of her elder sibling. “But seeing her this time, I’ve never loved her this much before.”
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