Thai teacher who died in gun attack while saving pupil hailed as ‘selfless’

The horror unfolded on Wednesday afternoon when the 17-year-old, who was armed with a stolen gun, entered the Patongprathankiriwat School in Songkhla province and took a pupil hostage. Head teacher Sasiphat Sinsamosorn, 54, negotiated the release of the pupil in exchange for herself.

During the long stand-off with police, the gunman shot Sasiphat. She died in hospital in the early hours of Thursday from her wounds, the health ministry said.

Streams of mourners dressed in black attended the teacher’s funeral, which began on Thursday afternoon, with many shedding tears as they said goodbye to her. Heartfelt tributes have flooded the school’s social media pages, which show a black and white photo of the lifelong teacher in the official uniform of her school rank.

“As a parent of someone who saw what you did, I am deeply grateful,” said one social media user.

In a separate post, another user said: “She selflessly sacrificed herself to protect teachers and students. It will remain in our memory forever. May all of you get through this time of sorrow with strength.”

There were no other fatalities in the incident. One student was wounded by gunshots, while another student was injured jumping from a school building to evade the assault.