A Thai police officer fatally shot a Canadian man and wounded his pregnant companion during a scuffle outside a bar in northern Thailand, authorities said yesterday.
The officer told investigators the shooting was an accident, but the officer was charged with premeditated murder, said police Colonel Sombat Panya of Pai district in northern Mae Hong Son.
John Leo Del Pinto, 25, died early on Sunday of two gunshot wounds -- one to the face and one to the torso -- and his partner, Carly Reisig, also of Canada, was hospitalized with a bullet wound, Sombat said.
The bullet grazed Reisig's upper left torso, and the fetus was unharmed, Sombat said.
The couple were drinking at a bar in Pai and began arguing after Del Pinto learned that Reisig had become pregnant with a Thai man, Sombat said, citing witnesses.
Outside the bar, their argument turned physical and when a police officer tried to intervene the couple attacked him, Sombat said.
The officer, Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat, told investigators that Del Pinto tried to grab his pistol and the gun ``accidentally went off'' three times, Sombat said.
The couple had rented a home in Mae Hong Son, on the border with Myanmar, for several years but took regular trips in and out of Thailand to extend their short-term tourist visas, Sombat said.
RSS