A Canadian man was shot dead and his pregnant companion wounded by a Thai police officer in northern Thailand, Canadian media reported Monday.
The officer involved, Sgt. Uthai Dechawiwat, has been charged with premeditated murder following the incident, which happened Sunday in Pai district, according to Thai investigators.
The officer argued the shooting was an accident as his gun went off when he was intervening when the couple were fighting outside a bar.
According to witnesses, the couple were drinking at a bar in Pai and began arguing. The police officer tried to intervene when their argument turned physical outside the bar. But the Canadian man tried to grab the officer's pistol and the gun "accidentally went off" three times.
The man, John Leo Del Pinto, 25, who was hit by two bullets, died soon after the incident. His partner, Carly Reisig, is in hospital after a bullet grazed her upper left torso. Her fetus was unharmed.
Uthai was charged with premeditated murder in Del Pinto's death and with "intent to kill" in connection with Reisig's injury. He has been released on bail.
The Canadian couple had been renting a home in Mae Hong Son, located on the border with Myanmar, for several years.
Source:Xinhua
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