Police are collecting evidence to identify a gunman who shot two soldiers on Saturday night.
Police forensic officers inspect the location where two soldiers were shot and wounded near Wat Benjamabopit on Saturday night. THANARAK KHOONTON
The soldiers — Chief Warrant Office Chaiyan Lekpong and L/Cpl Prasert Chansri — were shot while on patrol duty on Soi Likhit near the 1st Army Region headquarters and Wat Benjamabopit in Dusit district about 9.10pm.
They were members of a unit of five plainclothes soldiers on motorcycle patrol near the Network of Students and People for the Reform of Thailand (NSPRT) protest site.
The two soldiers sustained bullet wounds to their upper torsos.
Dusit police station chief Supakit Torbun yesterday examined the crime scene and questioned three other members of the patrol unit in a bid to identify the gunman.
Pol Col Supakit said only one soldier could remember the face of the shooter since the spot was not well lit.
Surveillance cameras installed in the area did not capture the shooting incident because they had been tampered with.
He said police are making a sketch of the suspect.
Police also found 18 copper bullet casings and an 11mm bullet at the scene.
Pol Col Supakit said police could not confirm whether the gunman is an NSPRT guard as was reported earlier.
Maj Gen Apirat Kongsompong, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said the soldiers had filed a police complaint about the shooting attack.
He said the attack was possibly made by NSPRT guards providing security around their rally site.
"They might have shot the soldiers out of a misunderstanding. However, we have to take legal action against them because the protesters should not have been armed," said Maj Gen Apirat, who is responsible for overseeing the overall military operation as well as coordinating with the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (Capo).
CWO Pairoj Kantha, one of five plainclothes soldiers who were patrolling on three motorcycles, told a police officer on duty that the two soldiers who were wounded were riding on the first motorcycle and he was riding on the second.
At the time of the incident he heard one gunshot which was followed by a series of gun shots.
The first motorcycle fell in the soi by Wat Benjamabopit School connected to Si Ayutthaya Road.
"When the first motorcycle fell, two NSPRT guards came out of a bunker," CWO Pairoj said.
"One of them pointed at the head of a wounded soldier with a .38 revolver. I had to quickly identify myself as a soldier on patrol.
"The guard pulled back his weapon. I immediately arranged for the wounded to be admitted to hospital."
In another incident, a bomb exploded near Om Noi municipality office on Soi Phetkasem 81 in Samut Sakhon's Krathum Baen district about noon yesterday. No one was injured.
Police also found another bomb at the scene and managed to defuse it.
Police are investigating the motive behind the bombing.