Police and the Incheon city government are considering awards for people who helped subdue a knife-wielding man who injured eight people at a shopping complex, officials said Wednesday.
Police are reviewing plans to honor five people who confronted the attacker with chairs and other objects. The city is also considering separate awards and has requested government recognition for their actions.
“Two citizens risked their safety to stop the attacker and prevent further injuries. We have requested government recognition for their actions,” Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae said in a Facebook post.
The attack occurred Tuesday afternoon at a shopping complex in Guwol-dong, Incheon. Around 1:40 p.m., the suspect, a man in his 50s with a prior conviction for attempted murder, stabbed two women waiting in line at a second-floor restaurant.
Lee, 35, a restaurant employee, threw a tray at the attacker and rushed toward him after seeing a customer collapse, according to local news reports. He confronted the suspect with a chair, joined by other people, while urging people to evacuate and call the police.
When the attacker moved to the third floor and stabbed another woman, Na, 31, a diner at the complex, joined the chase with a chair.
The group pursued the suspect upstairs and tried to corner him near an escalator descending to the third floor. But the suspect climbed the descending escalator to the fourth floor, where a movie theater and amusement facilities put more people, including children, at risk.
Shin Jung-hyun, 23, who was at the theater on the fourth floor, threw a chair at the suspect, knocking him down. Na and others pinned him down with chairs and disarmed him.
Shin, 65, a restaurant owner, also helped restrain the suspect.
Police officers arrived shortly afterward and arrested the suspect.
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