/ 10 February 2006

Stressed bank guard shoots Thai queue-jumper

A stressed-out security guard opened fire on a woman who jumped the queue at a branch of Thailand’s largest bank, police said on Friday.

The 33-year-old guard was charged with attempted murder for shooting a university student on Thursday after a quarrel that erupted when a queue-ticketing machine broke down.

A Bangkok Bank employee was also injured when a second bullet ricocheted and hit her left leg, a police captain said.

The guard, Thong-arn Nalard, quarreled with the woman after telling her to get in the queue with other customers. He said she hit him in the back after he accidentally brushed her arm, escalating the dispute. Then he opened fire.

“After interrogating the witnesses and the suspect, and based on his work track record, we believe that he was under stress,” the captain said.

The victims’ lives are not in danger. – AFP