Several people used chairs to subdue knife-wielding man in rampage at Homeplus complex
Accounts have emerged of members of the public who helped subdue an armed man during Tuesday’s knife attack at a commercial complex in Incheon, where eight people were injured. Many have praised them as heroes.
The attack began in the complex’s second-floor food court in Guwol-dong at around 1:40 p.m. The 59-year-old assailant had been subdued by the time police arrived.
Na Hyun-jun, a 31-year-old shopper, and two other men used chairs to stop the suspect and eventually pin him down. Na, who sustained a minor injury, was dining with his girlfriend when he saw the attack.
Na said he saw the suspect attacking a store owner and went over to help.
“He (the store owner) was blocking (the suspect) with a chair, and I thought he couldn’t handle him on his own, so I went to help,” Na told Newsis.
Na said the suspect kept stabbing people without saying anything or showing any emotion.
“I’m just glad that the (attack) stopped when it did. … I would step up again if a similar situation occurred. I have no regrets,” he said.
Shop owners, customers intervene
Several store owners and shoppers were seen throwing objects at the attacker.
Kim Cheol, 54, threw a chair at the man, who chased him. Kim urged people nearby to grab chairs as the suspect continued toward the upper floors.
Shin, who was on his way to a movie theater on the fourth floor, heard screams from below. He grabbed a chair and saw the suspect coming up the escalator. Shin threw the chair at the back of his head.
Others blocked the man from reaching the fourth-floor cinema and drew him toward the third-floor parking entrance. Na and two other men then subdued him. Shin told people below, “Grab him!”
“If (the suspect) had come upstairs, my girlfriend and I wouldn’t have been safe either. … There were a lot of children there, but I did it also to save myself,” Shin told Newsis.
Eight people were injured in the attack, including a woman in her 20s who suffered cardiac arrest. She has since recovered from cardiac arrest but had not regained consciousness as of Wednesday.
Investigators found that the suspect had previously served four years in prison for attempting to kill his wife. He was wearing an electronic ankle monitor and carrying a large quantity of drugs.
The suspect told police that he had taken drugs before the attack. Police plan to analyze the substances and are investigating his motive. They also plan to seek a warrant for his formal arrest.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com