Gunshots echoed in Ratchaburi Province as police followed up to search a house. "Phum Chamra" He was a target in a drug case but resisted by firing a weapon at a volunteer police officer, who was seriously injured. Authorities responded with gunfire to pressure surrender before finding him deceased inside a vehicle.
At 16:30 on 22 Jun 2026, Police Lieutenant Colonel Uthen Amnuay, Deputy Inspector (Investigation) of Photharam Police Station, received a report of a shooting injury. The victim was a volunteer police officer from Ban Pong Police Station, found in front of a house in Chamra Subdistrict, Photharam District. He reported to Police Colonel Phuchong Narongin, Chief of Photharam Police Station, and proceeded to the scene with officers.
At the scene, investigators from Ban Pong Police Station, led by Police Colonel Kobchok Lektrakool, Chief of Ban Pong Police Station, were surrounding the house. The injured volunteer police officer had already been taken to Photharam Hospital in critical condition. His name was later identified as Thanakorn Paengphon, 45, a volunteer police officer assisting Ban Pong police.
At the scene, a police pickup truck was blocking the entrance, while the suspect, Kittiphum Yamklad, known as "Phum Chamra," 38, was inside a white Honda Jazz registered in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. Officers tried to persuade him to exit the vehicle and surrender, with relatives calling out to him, but he refused to open the door for over an hour.
Later, the Photharam Police investigative team used a drone to survey the area around the suspect's vehicle but detected no movement.
Investigators from Region 7 Police, Ratchaburi Provincial Police, and the Special Operations Unit then arrived, deciding to have the Region 7 investigative team (Eagle 7) approach the vehicle with shields and metal hammers to break the windows immediately.
They found Phum Chamra deceased in the driver's seat with the seat reclined. His right hand held a 9 mm firearm resting on his chest. Nearby on the seat were three magazines, one replica gun, and multiple gunshot wounds on his right arm and side. The suspect's car door had multiple bullet holes. Inside the vehicle, officers found large amounts of cash, methamphetamine tablets, and crystal meth, which were seized as evidence.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect's relatives informed Ban Pong police that he was involved with drugs and wished for him to quit. The suspect was also a monitored individual in drug cases under police surveillance.
The investigative team then pursued the suspect's whereabouts at his house in Ban Pong but found he was not there. They learned he had driven to his mother's home in Chamra Subdistrict, Photharam, and upon arrival saw his car parked, assuming he was inside the house. When officers attempted to search the house, the suspect, sitting in his car, fired at a volunteer police officer assisting the search, seriously wounding him. Nearby investigators returned fire in self-defense, though it is unclear if the suspect was hit at that time. Reinforcements then surrounded the area and negotiated for some time before discovering the suspect deceased inside the car.
Initially, police coordinated with Ratchaburi forensic officials, medical examiners, prosecutors, and local authorities to investigate the scene following legal procedures, as this is a case of a fatal police shooting.
Regarding Kittiphum's background, he had been arrested multiple times in drug cases and was recently released two years ago before becoming involved with drugs again.
