Navy officer shot dead in illegal gambling den
A Navy officer was shot dead following a quarrel inside an illegal gambling den in Hat Yai town in Songkhla province on Thursday night, police said.
Police said Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Thirapol Okaew, 27, a communications officer at the Navy’s Songkhla naval base, was shot twice on his chest and once on his head with an 11mm pistol. He died at the Hat Yai Hospital.
Pol Lt-Colonel Nimman Nikuno, inspector of Hat Yai Police Station, was alerted to the shooting incident at 9.30pm.
Nimman said witnesses saw Thirapol quarrelling with Woraphan Julpana, 52, before Woraphan allegedly fired at him.
The gambling den, which is in a soi in the heart of Hat Yai, had earlier been closed three times following raids by troops and police.
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