A 59-year-old man stabbed at least eight people on Tuesday at a shopping centre in the South Korean city of Incheon, police and fire officials said. One victim was in life-threatening condition and received surgery at a nearby hospital.
The suspect attacked shoppers as he moved through the shopping centre before business owners and bystanders subdued him, according to local police and witnesses.
The man has a history of violent offences and mental illness and was required to wear an electronic monitoring anklet, according to South Korea’s Justice Ministry. The man’s name was not released, in keeping with South Korean practice for most criminal suspects.
Witnesses told South Korean media that the attacker appeared to have knives tied to both hands and stabbed people in different parts of the shopping centre while moving up and down the floors on an escalator.