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An armed soldier with an assault rifle carried out a shooting at a military base and a shopping center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on Saturday, killing at least 26 people, injuring 57, and posting a video on Facebook Live.

The soldier shot a senior officer at a military base, then engaged in a shootout at a shopping center before dying in a confrontation with soldiers and police, officials said.

The gunman's long confrontation with authorities ended Sunday morning, when a raid led to a shootout that killed him.

He died more than 12 hours after arriving in a stolen Humvee at a military base, where he had shot and killed a senior officer.

The security cameras in the shopping center showed a young man in camouflage gear walking past stores with a long gun.

Reports from inside describe panicked shoppers fleeing, hiding in restaurant kitchens and behind cash registers, holding their breath and silencing their phones.

The shooting and long siege that ended at 9 am on Sunday morning threw this city and country into panic with all the anguish and heartbreaking confusion that accompanies mass shootings and acts of terrorism around the world.

Without clear motive, with social media again used to broadcast images of bloodshed, Thailand is now facing its own version of an emerging global threat: the combination of firearms, technology and a killer with access to both who is determined to take the lives of innocent people in a once-safe public place.

Nothing as serious is common in Thailand, but in a country of 69 million people with over 10 million firearms, authorities have been concerned about gun violence for years.

Thailand has one of the highest rates of firearm homicide in Asia, and the Nakhon Ratchasima incident (a city formerly known as Khorat) occurred just a month after an armed man killed three people in a shopping center in the city of Lopburi, in central Thailand.

The shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima stunned officials; one of them said the gunman had "gone crazy", creating widespread horror that turned a busy seven-story shopping center into a maze of fear.

But the violence began a few kilometers away, on a military base, around 3 pm local time on Saturday.

The defence ministry's spokesman, Lieutenant General Kongcheep Tantravanich, said the gunman, named Sergeant Jakkrapanth Thomma, had "shot and killed his superior" at Suthampitak military base in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

“He also shot at military officers and injured them,” he added.

He then stole a Humvee, firing randomly along his route before entering the shopping center with several firearms, including an automatic rifle.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Sunday that the shooter was furious because of a "land issue", in particular a dispute over the payment of a fee for the sale of a house.

Indeed, a Facebook page allegedly linked to Sergeant Thomma contained comments and images suggesting a grudge involving money.

"Getting rich by cheating and taking advantage of others," he said in a comment on the page. "Do they think they can take their money to use in hell?"

The page also showed an image of a young man wearing a helmet on Saturday.

“I'm tired now,” he said at one point. “I can no longer move my finger.” The Facebook page was taken down shortly after.

According to Facebook, the suspect's Facebook and Instagram accounts have been deleted.

The company said it had identified a short live video posted by the suspect, but a spokesperson, Sarah Pollack, said it had found no evidence that the violence itself was broadcast on Facebook Live.

The company stated that it continued to seek to know when the gunman's video had been streamed, adding that it would strive to prevent others from posting the gunman's video, as well as anyone posting videos that depict the violence itself or support the attack.

The response reflects an effort to combat a tactic used by assailants in other mass shootings.

Last year, an Australian broadcast on the social network his attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Two months later, in May, Facebook announced that it would take firmer action in response to those who shared copies of violent videos: It would ban people who did so for 30 days for a first offense.

Multiple offenses could be subject to a long-term ban.

But once triggered, the video of the Christchurch attack, which killed 51 people, spread on the Internet.

And on Saturday, several videos showing the victims and the chaos of the Thai gunman's attack were seen on the 4chan internet forum.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, the operation to apprehend the shooter and secure the shopping center lasted more than 12 hours.

Shortly after 8pm local time, the police division responsible for combating crime announced that the gunman was the most wanted man and urged the public to provide information about him.

Of the 57 injured, at least four were seriously injured, said Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, adding that they were undergoing surgery early Sunday.

At one point, early Sunday morning, shots were heard coming from inside the mall.

As the siege continued until Sunday morning, the area around the shopping center was cordoned off, for fear that hundreds of people were trapped inside.

Videos showed steady streams of people, many carrying young children, fleeing the mall with the help of police and soldiers.

One of those who was evacuated, Somwang Kwangchaithale, said he and his wife were watching a movie at the fifth-floor cinema of the mall on Saturday night when the lights suddenly came on and an announcement said there was an emergency.

About a hundred people were gathered in a locked office, said Mr. Somwang, where they remained for five hours before a rescuer escorted them down the fire stairs, instructing them to stay low and be quiet.

As they emerged, shots rang out and everyone "started screaming and running for their lives," his wife, Viparat Wansaboiy, said.

“I have never run so fast in my life,” she added. “I heard the sound of gunfire and when I turned around, all I saw was dust flying, people screaming.”

Speaking to CNN, Crime Suppression Division chief General Jirapob Puridet said the gunman was a highly skilled man who had won a number of small shooting competitions.

Jirapob led the team that entered the building to confront the gunman.

“It was almost like a scene from a Hollywood action movie,” he said.

“At times, the gunfire was continuous.”

According to Jirapob, the police tried to negotiate with the gunman several times, trying to convince him to surrender.

Police contacted the shooter's mother from his hometown in the neighboring province of Chaiyapum, and brought her to a neighborhood near the mall.

But Jirapob said his son didn't want to talk to him.

Jirapob told CNN that the police had decided to shoot to kill because the lives of people trapped inside the shopping center were in danger.

“We had to make the decision to face him because people trapped inside a cold room sent us messages saying the oxygen level was very low.

So we had to take the risk of confronting him, or else the people trapped inside were going to die.”.