Young woman shot 'accidentally' by Phuket policeman

[webfact]

Young woman shot 'accidentally' by Phuket policeman
Eakkapop Thongtub


Pol Sgt Phongsagorn Treeyut of Kathu Police is believed by colleagues to have fired the fatal shot accidentally while ‘teasing’ the victim.

PHUKET: -- A young woman was killed early morning (December 26) in what Kathu police say they believe was an accidental shooting by one of their own.

Officers were called at 7 am to the Fong Beer pub on PangMuangSaiKorRoad in Patong. There, they were shown the body of 27-year-old SawitreeKaewnin, sitting at a table outside, her head on the table in a lake of blood. She had been dead about two hours.

Next to her was a black leather pistol holster. On the ground was a shoulder bag, an 11mm pistol and an case for spare ammunition. In the pub near the door, they discovered an 11mm bullet casing and a magazine containing five bullets.

They discovered that Ms Sawitree had been shot behind the ear, with the bullet exiting through her forehead. They took the body to Patong hospital for further examination.

In the hospital they encountered Pol Sgt Phongsagorn Treeyut of Kathu Police, being treated for a gunshot wound to his left wrist.

Witnesses told them that Sgt Phongsagorn came to see Ms Sawitree, who worked as a waitress in the pub, and they sat having “sweet talk” at the table. Then staff heard a single gunshot.

Police say their inquiries lead them to believe that Sgt Phongsagorn was “just teasing” Ms Sawitree by holding her around the neck and pointing the gun at her ear.

The sergeant, they say, had removed the magazine from the weapon but did not realise there was still a round in the chamber.

In among the “teasing”, he pulled the trigger, firing the fatal shot and also injuring himself.

Investigators continue to collect evidence to see if it matches with this theory.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/young-woman-shot-accidentally-by-phuket-policeman-43686.php


-- Phuket News 2013-12-27

[noikrit]

Unbelievable .... and I mean UNBELIEVABLE !!! .......... Condolences to her Family .....

[canuckamuck]

It's OK, he was just teasing her.

Edited December 27, 2013 by canuckamuck

[londonthai]

teasing with a gun with a civilian and pulling a trigger, fleeing the scene and not informing police of the shooting, sounds rather like a murder (of passion or premeditated)

[Shot]

_{<deleted>?}

[Bernie9366]

"The sergeant, they say, had removed the magazine from the weapon but did not realise there was still a round in the chamber."

Yeah right!.....I stopped believing in fairy tales when I was a little kid.

R. I. P Ms Sawitree

[hansgruber]

Let's hope he is charged with something and not swept under the carpet.

Disgusting abuse of power.

[LivinginKata]

My wife read this yesterday in the Thai website. The photo displayed of the dead lady was very graphic. So this is the Royal Thai Police's finest. Horsing about with a loaded gun, never checked the chamber. He's most likely only face internal discipline with no jail time. RIP the deceased.

[JoeThePoster]

Investigators continue to collect evidence to see if it matches with this theory.

That needs traveling faster than the speed of sound to hear the "sweet talk".

[Cylon]

Dead for 2 hours ?????????????????????

[zydeco]

The American frontier had better qualified sheriffs back in the 19th century. Come to think of it, one Wild Bill Hickok or Wyatt Earp was worth about a couple of thousand RTP.

[Bung]

Nobody "sweet talks" their girlfriend by pointing a gun at their head.

I reckon he grabbed her around the head from behind, shot her in cold blood and managed to injure his wrist in the process.

Lame excuse but most likely enough to get him back on the streets soon enough, she was, after all, just a bar girl, he, a member of the Thai Royal Police.

[alfalfa19]

And evidently she lay with her head in a pool of blood on the table for 2 hours before the cops came? Methinks somebody needed time to sort out a story. This is incredible, but not unbelievable. Reminds me of the drunken, off duty cop in another province who cut off a waitress' arm because she did not want to have sex with him. Does anybody know what became of that case? I am guessing nothing, as usual.

[Somtamnication]

Funny story..

In early 93, while working in Guadalajara, our company took delivery of two chevy suburbans. 3 hours later, two thugs came in with guns, pistol whipped me and the accountant, put everyone in the toilet with threats and all and then took the suburbans.

It wasn't until I read this story that I realized, 19 years later, it was a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Deez]

RIP to the victim. I am sure a stern "transfer" will be coming

[kurnell]

Thai cops should be allowed to carry bananas only in their holsters. Which is rather apt I think.

[pedro01]

My wife read this yesterday in the Thai website. The photo displayed of the dead lady was very graphic. So this is the Royal Thai Police's finest. Horsing about with a loaded gun, never checked the chamber. He's most likely only face internal discipline with no jail time. RIP the deceased.

You really believe that story?

Here you have a man holding a woman around the neck, shooting her through the head and getting wounded when the exiting bullet hit the arm that was restraining the woman. That is cold blooded murder.

To me this sounds like a murder by a policeman and his colleagues scrambling to help cover up for him. Thing is - he'll probably get away with it too.

This is just another side of corruption. Something to consider for those that think it's cool to pay a cop a few hundred baht for running a red light.

[cooked]

The first thing you should learn about firearms is that you must always assume that they are loaded.

[prestburypark]

"Teasing" like that is assault with a deadly weapon in most countries without the gun being fired. Jailtime, and for a police to do that...unreal.

With the shot fired, well, looks like a duck etc...

[anthobkk]

This is hard to understand the story as well. He was teasing her with a gun...The staff heard a single gun shot but the girl was lying on the table for two hours. The police fled the scene because he shot himself in the wrist.

If the bullet went through the ear of the girl then through her forehead, how the hell did he got shot in the wrist. ...

[brianP]

What kind of gun kills more people in the world? The unloaded gun!

[Bung]

He may have grabbed her by the hair, shot her and because he was most likely drunk didn't realise the bullet would exit and hit him as well.

If he came up behind her and grabbed a handful of hair on the front of her head his wrist could have been over her forehead easily.

[chooka]

Bit like the senior government official who was cleaning his ouzi at the dinner table in a restaurant and accidently shot and killed his ex wife. That all disappeared after it was deemed an accident no charges laid.

Edited December 27, 2013 by chooka

[oneday]

How could anyone supposedly trained to handle and use a gun NOT check the chamber IF he was teasing let alone horsing around with a gun loaded or not.

I have always thought putting guns in the hands of many police was like giving a loaded gun to a child.

RIP young lady.

Edited December 27, 2013 by oneday

[eezergood]

It's OK, he was just teasing her.

Yup, make merit, shave his head & pay a few THB and all is right with the world again!

Very sad for the poor lady's family, they WILL have been told to shut up as will the staff at this place.

[andreandre]

How could anyone supposedly trained to handle and use a gun NOT check the chamber IF he was teasing let alone horsing around with a gun loaded or not.

I have always thought putting guns in the hands of many police was like giving a loaded gun to a child.

RIP young lady.

Whilst not defending the cop in any way, shape or form, this situation is not all that rare.

Poorly trained gun handlers are a prime reason...[these BIB are obviously poorly trained in all aspects of policing anyway, so gun handling is bound to be basic]

Many really do think that simply removing the clip from a semi-auto will leave a firearm unloaded, but unless you also slide the slide right back , which will automatically eject the chambered round, then slide back and lock for a visual inspection, the chances are that the gun is loaded and lethal.

Normally a glock is gun of choice for BIB, here they say an 11mm round , no glock 11mm made but sounds like a Glock 36 which is .45 and has the 6 round clip..[OP mentions 6 rounds]

Combined with a few drinks and some bravado this scenario can easily occur.

This incident tho' does reek of a murder then set up to appear an accident..

Time will tell, but then again..TIT.

[Thaddeus]

"The sergeant, they say, had removed the magazine from the weapon but did not realise there was still a round in the chamber."

Yeah right!.....I stopped believing in fairy tales when I was a little kid.

R. I. P Ms Sawitree

It is of course possible, given my experiences with the nations finest I would use the word plausible instead, that he is just an idiot, a macho idiot with a gun.

RIP young lady.

[klauskunkel]

so sorry for the lady...

not surprised at all by that ass in brown

[Carrerakiss]

You ain't in Kansas anymore Dorothy.

A veneer of civility does not mean that Thailand is anything more than a developing country where law enforcement officers are, in general, part of the problem, rather than the solution.

I don't know if its actually right or not, but I think it is entirely possible this lady was killed in cold blood and the killer will face no penalties. Sad.

[eezergood]

The real issue is that making face takes precedence over all else, be it in the village with bar girls sending money home to buy gold or in this case some brainless moron with a firearm.