A MAN who was among 10 people celebrating a friend’s birthday at a restaurant in Phra Pradaeng district, Samut Prakan province, was accidently shot in the right rib cage by a waiter who was unloading bullets from a pistol behind a bar counter in the wee hours of this morning (Aug. 31), Amarin TV said.
Pol. Lt. Weerapong Boonthong, a deputy inspector at Phra Pradaeng police station, was notified of the accident at 2 a.m. and quickly sent Por Teck Tung Foundation rescuers and a Bangchak Hospital rescue unit to help the injured man, Mr. Phongthon Sarapat, 25, at the restaurant in Soi Suksawat 76, Bang Chak subdistrict, and he was rushed to the hospital.
The police team saw upon arrival that the bar counter had a gunshot mark on it with the bullet having been fired from behind it. They also found a white blood-stained T-shirt with a bullet hole in it.
Waiting to surrender was the waiter, Mr. Nattaphat Jamsai, 21, and after handing over his 9mm pistol told police that as he was sitting behind the bar counter and trying to remove bullets from this pistol when it suddenly went off and hit the wounded man.
The police team then took him and his pistol to the station and will also be going through a surveillance camera clip to verify his account of what happened.
He has initially been charged with recklessly injuring others, possessing a firearm and carrying it in public without permission.
The restaurant owner and others present when the shooting occurred will all be questioned and if any of them are found to have also been involved they too will be prosecuted.
CAPTIONS:
Top: The restaurant where the shooting took place.
Front Page: The injured man lying on the floor. Top photo: Amarin TV, Front Page photo: Thai Rath
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