Nepalese Royal Massacre - Overview of Events

Overview of Events

According to reports, Dipendra had been drinking heavily and had "misbehaved" with a guest, which resulted in his father, King Birendra, telling his son to leave the party. The drunken Dipendra was taken to his room by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.

One hour later, Dipendra returned to the party armed with an H&K MP5, a Franchi SPAS-12 and an M16 and fired a single shot into the ceiling before turning the gun on his father, King Birendra. Seconds later, Dipendra shot one of his aunts. He then shot his uncle Dhirendra in the chest at point-blank range when he tried to stop Dipendra. During the shooting, Prince Paras suffered slight injuries and managed to save at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them. During the attack, Dipendra darted in and out of the room firing shots each time.

Excerpts from the two-member committee report by Chief Justice Keshab Prasad Upadhyaya say that Nepal's late King Birendra had made an abortive last-minute attempt to shoot at his son, then Crown Prince Dipendra as the latter fired indiscriminately on the royals at the Narayanhity Palace on the night of June 1, according to the details of the official probe report released in Kathmandu. After getting injured in the first attack by Dipendra, the late King Birendra picked up the 9mm caliber MP-5K automatic sub-machine gun, which the former had thrown before entering the billiards room in the palace for the second time and firing at the monarch and others, the late king's sister Princess Shova Shahi is quoted as having told the high-level probe panel However, Shahi snatched the weapon from her brother and pulled out the magazine thinking that it was the only weapon Dipendra had. Corrborating Shova Shahi's version, Prince Paras is quoted as having said, "She (Shova) must have thought that it was the only weapon Dai (Dipendra) had but I saw that he had much more weapons."

His mother, Queen Aishwarya, who came into the room when the first shots were fired, left quickly, looking for help.

Dipendra's mother Aishwarya and his brother Nirajan confronted him in the garden of the palace, where they were both shot dead. Dipendra then proceeded to a small bridge over a stream running through the palace, where he shot himself.

Lamteri, a junior army staff at Narayanhiti Palace, claimed that he saw Dipendra, who got six bullet shots on his back and one on the left hand, in an inebriated state in his private room before the royal family was killed.