Two masked Cambodian gunmen were killed and four were arrested after a six-hour standoff with police outside an international school in Siem Reap, but not before they executed a three-year-old Canadian boy.
The assault began at around 9 AM, and at some point during the crisis, 40 people were released, leaving 29 students between two- and six-years-old and one teacher.
According to the Associated Press, the men demanded $1000, six AK-47 assault rifles, six shotguns, B-40 grenade launchers, hand grenades and a car. Local police in crime-ridden tourist town Siem Reap, near the popular Angkor Wat temples, were unable to procure the exact demand, but offered the hostage-takers $30,000 and a 12-seater van.
Apparently angered by the counter-offer, the gunmen threatened to execute the hostages one-by-one until their demands were met. They began with the Canadian tot, shooting him in the head.
Two dozen policemen then stormed the school, killing two of the gunmen in the process. The other four were arrested in the raid.
By one account presented by Reuters, an Italian father joined the raid and was able to rescue his own three-year-old son.
“They attacked this van in which these kidnappers were with the children and the father of this child told us he jumped in during the confusion and managed to get his son out,” said Ignazio Di Palma, Italy’s ambassador to Thailand, via telephone to Sky Italia TV.
The gunmen were reported to be in their early 20’s, and they’re motives are still unclear. Though political motives are not ruled out, authorities believe this was a botched robbery.
The Cambodian school was attended by expatriates of several nations, including Italy, Indonesia, South Korea, United States, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Switzerland.
