Man who left 19-year-old unconscious in Incheon stabbing rampage detained

A man in his 50s who went on a knife rampage at a large commercial complex in Incheon, injuring eight people, has been taken into custody. He told police he carried out the attack to publicize his grievances over medical treatment he had received at a hospital.

The Incheon Namdong Police Station said Friday it had detained the suspect, identified only as A, 59, on charges of attempted murder and carrying a deadly weapon in a public place. Incheon District Court Judge Park Young-gi issued the arrest warrant after conducting a pretrial detention hearing, citing a risk of flight.

As A arrived at the courthouse for the hearing, reporters asked him why he had carried out the attack and whether he had anything to say to the victims. "I'm sorry. I have committed a sin worthy of death," he said. Asked whether he had acted to draw public attention, he said, "That's not it — I had put myself in a situation where I had no choice but to fall off a cliff."

During police questioning, A said he had been dissatisfied with a hospital where he received treatment for a skin condition and that, after the hospital reported him to police and triggered an investigation, he wanted to make his grievances known to the public — and carried out the attack for that reason, according to investigators. Before the detention hearing, he also claimed he had been under pressure from a civil dispute with the hospital.

A is accused of attempting to kill 10 people by stabbing them at the See&See commercial building in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, at around 1:48 p.m. on Tuesday. Eight of the victims were injured, including a 19-year-old woman who remains unconscious; the other two escaped unharmed.

Bystanders intervened to prevent further casualties. As A moved between floors continuing his attack, shoppers confronted him with chairs, and one person at a movie theater on the fourth floor threw a chair and knocked him down. Others then pinned him to the ground with chairs until police arrived and arrested him.

A has a prior criminal record involving knife attacks, including a previous attempted murder conviction. In 2004, he was indicted on attempted murder charges after attacking an employee at a real estate agency with a knife. In 2007, he received a suspended sentence for attacking a woman he lived with. He was later sentenced to four years in prison in 2015 for attempting to kill the same woman.