LAMPANG – A man with a prior mental health history shot and killed a motorbike mechanic over loud motorcycle exhaust noise. The suspect allegedly thought the young mechanic never warned his son about riding noisy bikes.
When the mechanic tested a customer’s loud bike, an argument flared up again and ended with the suspect grabbing a shotgun and shooting the young man dead in the middle of the road late at night.
Pol Lt Thanakrit Muangsut, deputy inspector of Mae Tha Police Station, Mae Tha District, Lampang Province, received a report of a shooting with one fatality in San Don Kaeo Sub-district, Mae Tha District, Lampang.
The call came in around 11.30 p.m. on Monday. He went to the scene with Pol Col Pinit Netpanya, superintendent of Mae Tha Police Station, Pol Lt Col Jeeradech Chanuan, deputy superintendent (investigation), the Mae Tha investigation team, forensic officers from Forensic Unit 5 Lampang, and the Pa Tan – Na Khrua municipal rescue unit.
The crime scene was a concrete road inside Ban Mae Than. Officers found the body of Mr. Boontem Uchaipoom, 40 years old, lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot with a shotgun. The pellets hit his right shoulder and head and caused instant death.
The motorbike had fake plates
Nearby, police found a blue Honda Wave 110 motorbike with a fake licence plate from Chonburi lying on its side. Close to the bike, they found a long homemade flintlock-style gun stained with blood. Shotgun wads were scattered on the road in several spots, and blood stains stretched along the road for almost 100 metres.
Officers questioned the victim’s 14-year-old son. He told police that his father, a motorcycle mechanic, lived about 200 metres from the scene. That night, his father had taken a repaired bike out to test the engine near the entrance of the village, with his son riding along.
Someone then fired a warning shot. After that, the father rode the bike back to drop his son at home, then grabbed a flintlock gun and went out again. Around 11.00 p.m., villagers heard three to four gunshots. At about 11.30 p.m., the village headman came to the house and told the family that his father had been shot dead.
Early investigation points to a suspect in the same village, about 38 years old, who had clashed with the victim before. The source of the conflict was anger over loud motorcycle noise. The victim often repaired bikes and rode them to test engines. His helpers and younger workers did the same.
The suspect allegedly believed the noisy bikes belonged to the victim’s son and had scolded the victim for not controlling or warning him. About three to four months earlier, the suspect had reportedly stormed into the victim’s house and threatened to shoot him dead. That threat now appears connected to this case.
Police now believe the gunman is a villager who had long-standing resentment over the loud exhausts of the motorcycles. They suspect that on the night of the shooting, he heard another loud bike pass his house and fired a warning shot.
The victim then returned home, took his flintlock gun, and went to confront the shooter, hoping to clear the air. The meeting did not go well. The two argued again, things got out of control, and the suspect chased and shot the mechanic to death.
Officers will move today (16 December) to track down and arrest the main suspect. Police say the man is armed and has a record of mental health treatment, which makes the case even more urgent for community safety.
