Elderly man pulls weapon on street, says seeing happy people makes him angry

An elderly man pulled out a weapon on a public street in Busan and threatened to kill a bystander.

According to JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," a crime-report program that aired Thursday, a witness identified as A, who works at a mart in Busan, was on his way to work last weekend when he saw a young man and an elderly man arguing in front of the store.

"The young man and the elderly man were fighting," A said. "The old man was kicking boxes around and causing a scene, so I told him, 'Sir, you can't do this — I have to clean all of this up.' Then he said, 'And who are you? Want me to kill you?' and pulled out a weapon."

Footage released from the incident shows the elderly man pulling the weapon from his bag and brandishing it. Passersby nearby were so startled that they scrambled to get away.

"I was shocked too, so I raised both hands as if to show I had no intention of attacking, kept telling him to stop, and maintained my distance," A said. "There was nothing else in his bag — just the weapon sitting there by itself. It was chilling to think he might have been carrying it around for that purpose from the start."

When the elderly man tried to leave, A followed him and called the police.

Still apparently enraged, the man punched a street sign and knocked it over, then hurled a glass bottle and a brick at A, shouting, "Calling the police over something like this — you're no man."

When A asked why he was acting this way, the elderly man claimed he had been defrauded of 1 billion won ($720,000). He also said, A recounted, "When I walk by and see someone smiling or looking happy, it irritates me. It makes me angry."

The elderly man fled to a nearby subway station, where police ultimately arrested him. It later emerged that the young man A had seen arguing with the elderly man on his way to work was the man's own son. A said the son showed little surprise at the situation and made no attempt to intervene, suggesting the behavior had likely occurred before.

A said the detective handling the case told him the elderly man had been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility, as he was not of sound mind.