A teenage boy with a handgun opened fire inside a major shopping mall in the center of Thailand香蕉视频直播檚 capital Tuesday afternoon, killing two people before being apprehended, authorities said.

Police said a suspect was taken into custody less than an hour after the first reported gunshots at the Siam Paragon Mall, one of Bangkok香蕉视频直播檚 biggest and most upscale shopping destinations.

Video uploaded to social media and broadcast on television showed a long-haired teenage boy in the custody of police. Major Thai media said he was 14 years old, though recently appointed police chief Torsak Sukvimol confirmed only that he is a minor and that he had a record of being treated for mental illness. He said police had not yet learned where the suspect obtained his gun.

Torsak said two people had been killed, a visitor from China and a Myanmar national, and five people hurt. Earlier, Yutthana Sretthanan, director of Bangkok香蕉视频直播檚 Erawan Emergency Medical Center, had said three people were killed and six were injured. There was no explanation of the discrepancy, though Yutthana later supported the police numbers.

Police spokesman Archayon Kraithong told reporters the situation was under control at the mall, which sells high-end fashions and luxury cars, and includes a cinema, an aquarium and the attached five-star Siam Kempinski Hotel.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters that he was informed by police that one of the dead was a Chinese tourist about 30 years old.

香蕉视频直播淚 would like to express my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased following the shooting inside Siam Paragon,香蕉视频直播� Srettha, who took office in August, said in an earlier statement. 香蕉视频直播淚 would like to give my moral support to the families of all who died and were injured.香蕉视频直播�

Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, though mass shootings are rare.

The incident happened days before Thais were planning to mark the anniversary of the country香蕉视频直播檚 biggest mass killing by an individual, a grisly at a rural day care center in a northeastern province that killed 36 people, most of them preschoolers, on Oct. 6, 2022.

Tuesday香蕉视频直播檚 shooting prompted authorities to temporarily shut access to the nearby Siam Square elevated train stop, preventing commuters from exiting as the evening rush hour began and intense rain pounded the city. First responders could be seen entering the mall as sirens wailed outside.

Witnesses said crowds of people scrambled to leave the building, one of several shopping centers in the area popular with tourists and well-heeled Thais alike.

Chinese tourist Liu Shiying told the AP that she saw people running and saying someone had opened fire. She said she heard gunshots and an alarm ringing, and that the lights in the mall went out.

香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e temporarily hiding. Who dares to go out?香蕉视频直播� she said while taking cover. She was later able to leave.

Gautam Vora, 45, an Indian national who works in finance in Bangkok, was at the mall with his wife and child. He said it was 香蕉视频直播渜uite scary,香蕉视频直播� even though he was initially unsure whether he had heard gunshots or 香蕉视频直播渟omebody playing a hoax with some firecrackers.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播滶verybody was screaming and running,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淭here was a lot of chaos and that was almost like a stampede.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淚 don香蕉视频直播檛 think they were well prepared for this,香蕉视频直播� he added. 香蕉视频直播淚 think most of the staff inside the shopping mall were confused and they were running helter-skelter, too.香蕉视频直播�

Multiple videos uploaded to social media showed people running out of the building, and several showed a person dressed in a baseball cap, dark shirt and camouflage pants inside the mall, holding a handgun. A video believed to be of the shooter after his arrest showed a long-haired boy wearing glasses dressed like that, with an American flag on his cap. Videos and photos also showed the pistol he was said to have been carrying before he was disarmed.

In 2020, a disgruntled soldier opened fire in and around a mall in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, and holding off security forces for some 16 hours before eventually being killed by them.

Gun laws in Thailand are relatively restrictive, but the country nonetheless has one of the highest levels of gun ownership in Asia, according to GunPolicy.org, a research project at Australia香蕉视频直播檚 University of Sydney.

There are about 10 guns per 100 people in Thailand when including those owned illegally, as compared with less than one per 100 in the country香蕉视频直播檚 peaceful Southeast Asian neighbor Malaysia, the project said. Penalties for unlawful possession in Thailand include prison terms from 1 to 10 years and fines up to 20,000 baht ($539).

Critics in Thailand say the registration process for firearms isn香蕉视频直播檛 nearly tough enough.

香蕉视频直播淭he shockingly high rate of gun ownership in Thailand is due to the convenient process of gun permit issuance. It is easy to apply for and get gun permits in Thailand,香蕉视频直播� Boonwara Sumano, a senior research fellow at Thailand Development Research Institute wrote after last year香蕉视频直播檚 day care center killings.

香蕉视频直播淩elaxed laws and policies towards guns suggest a high tolerance for gun violence in Thai society,香蕉视频直播� he added.

Associated Press journalists Penny Yi Wang, Adam Schreck, Grant Peck and Jerry Harmer contributed reporting.

Jintamas Saksornchai And Tian Macleod Ji, The Associated Press