Manager detained after hostage standoff at Ansan restaurant ends with Taser

A man in his 20s who held a knife to the throat of a female internet broadcaster and faced off against police has been detained. The suspect, who worked as the broadcaster's manager, injured the victim with the blade before officers subdued him after deploying more than 30 personnel.

The Ansan Sangnok Police Station said Monday it had obtained an arrest warrant and detained the suspect, identified only as A, on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated unlawful confinement and preparation for murder.

A is accused of holding a knife to the throat of B, an internet broadcaster, at a restaurant in Sangnok-gu, Ansan, at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and confronting responding officers.

Police had received two witness reports — at 5:21 p.m. and 5:26 p.m. — that a man was assaulting a woman at the location.

After determining during the call-taking process that a bladed weapon was involved, and upon hearing a woman screaming, police issued a "Code Zero" — the highest emergency level in their operational manual — and dispatched more than 30 officers. They simultaneously requested the deployment of a police special operations unit.

When officers arrived at the scene at around 5:33 p.m., A was standing alone inside the empty restaurant, gripping B's neck with one hand and holding the knife with the other.

Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon, but he refused.

During the standoff, B sustained a laceration from the knife A held to her throat and also suffered burns after he poured hot water on her legs.

Officers then moved to subdue A by pretending to hand him a bottle of water, successfully arresting him at around 5:50 p.m. — 17 minutes after the standoff began.

The situation commander at Ansan Sangnok Station, Senior Inspector Park, asked A whether he was thirsty. When A said he was, Park moved in to restrain him as he reached for the water bottle.

Officers seized the moment A switched the knife from his right hand to his left in order to take the bottle.

Park grabbed A's right hand with his own left hand and knocked the knife out of A's left hand with his right, according to police.

Other officers on the scene fired two Taser rounds at A to assist in the arrest.

The operation concluded without major casualties, though Park sustained an approximately 4-centimeter cut to his right palm from A's knife during the physical struggle and required three stitches. No other injuries were reported.

Investigation so far has established that A had been working as a chat moderator on B's internet broadcast channel but recently fell out with her and quit. As the conflict escalated, he armed himself with a knife he had prepared in advance and went to confront her.

Police said they plan to conduct further questioning of the detained suspect and review whether he can be charged with retaliatory crime or attempted murder.

Police said that although A held B at knifepoint, he did not make any unlawful demands using her as leverage, which meant hostage-related charges under the criminal code could not be applied.

Offenses such as hostage coercion or hostage robbery require that the perpetrator use a hostage to compel another person to do something they are not obligated to do, or to demand financial gain or other benefits.

"The court issued the arrest warrant, allowing us to continue the investigation with the suspect in custody," a police official said. "Senior Inspector Park, who was serving as acting station chief over the weekend in his role as situation commander, took personal charge at the scene and resolved the incident through his own initiative."