Thai anti-government protesters chat next to a protesting banner outside a makeshift camp where their colleagues were shot outside the Prime Minister's office of Government House, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.
1 Dead, 3 Wounded in Thailand Protest Shooting
A gunman opened fire on an opposition rally in the Thai capital early Saturday, killing one person and wounding three others in an incident that could inflame political tensions in the country.
Some witnesses say the shots were fired from a passing car into a group of protesters camped overnight near the government house in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, anti-government protesters surrounded candidate registration locations in the country's opposition-dominated south, forcing officials to suspend the sign-up process in some provinces.
Early elections are scheduled for February 2.
The developments follow weeks of protests by people seeking to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Demonstrators say her removal is necessary to purge the country of corruption and money politics.
Photo Gallery:
Opposition Rally in Thailand
In a televised address Friday, Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocah declined to rule out the possibility of a coup in Thailand. Prayuth also repeated a request that people stop asking the army to take sides in the bitter dispute.
Demonstrators view Yingluck as a puppet of her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Large protests have forced her to call for early elections and dissolve parliament, but she has refused to resign.
Former prime minister Thaksin, a billionaire businessman, was ousted in a 2006 military coup. He was convicted of corruption and lives in self-imposed exile.
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