A seventh grader at Debsirin School in Nonthaburi told the BBC she was standing in front of her teacher when the teacher was shot. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.

The girl said she was talking to the teacher when the gunman showed up and shot her. She said she had to climb over the school fence to escape with other friends. Her mother said the girl thought she might die: "[She said] 'I thought I'd never see you again'."

Police say a 14-year-old boy opened fire, killing five teachers and injuring 23 people, including fellow pupils, before turning the weapon on himself. Earlier, he had gunned down his grandparents.

An 18-year-old student told Reuters he initially thought firecrackers were going off: "I didn't think it was a gun at first. There were many shots: bang bang bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again."

Rescue worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith rushed to the scene after hearing children as young as 12 had been hurt: "I saw students who had been shot, some in the arm, some in the back, some in the chest. So I rushed to help get them to the hospital first."

A 31-year-old teacher told the BBC his friend was among the dead: "She was my age. We went to this school together as students. Then we both became teachers at this school."

Police haven't said anything about a motive. They believe the 9mm handgun the shooter used belonged to his grandfather. Forensic officers found the gunman's shots to be "quite accurate", with several hitting "vital spots" on victims' bodies.

A teacher at the school said the shooter was a good student - not aggressive and with good grades. Education authorities described him as an avid gamer. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said study pressures may have played a role: "We learned that his grandmother was a teacher and she might have been strict with him. From what the police gathered from his close friend, they knew he was quite stressed about it."

This is Thailand's deadliest mass shooting in years - and the second at a school this year. In February, a head teacher and a female student were shot by an 18-year-old gunman during a school siege in southern Thailand. Four years ago, a 34-year-old in the eastern Nong Bua Lamphu province killed 37 people, most of them preschoolers, in a shooting and stabbing at a nursery.

These crimes have resurfaced questions about gun control in the country. "This shouldn't have happened," the boyfriend of one of the killed teachers told reporters, clearly distressed and trying to hold back tears.