The former policeman who killed at least 36 people, including 24 children, during a knife and gun rampage at a daycare center in northeast Thailand on Thursday had been dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations and he was facing trial on drug charges.

The man had been in court earlier in the day and had then gone to the daycare center to pick up his child, police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon told ThaiPBS.

Deadliest Mass Shooting  

In one of the world's worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history, most of the children who died at the daycare were stabbed to death, Thai police said. The children at the center were between the ages of two and five, a local official told Reuters.

The man later shot his own wife, their four-year-old son then turned the gun on himself.

The shooting took place in Uthai Sawan, a town 500 km (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok. 

Official Announcement

At a news conference late Thursday evening in Thailand, Dr. Surapong Phadungwiang, a provincial health official, gave an updated death toll, confirming that 36 people had been killed, not including the gunman. 

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