Transcripts of emergency calls made during last week's stabbing rampage in Incheon have revealed how bystanders scrambled to help the wounded.
According to the transcripts of emergency calls obtained by the office of Rep. Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, the first 119 call was received at 1:49 p.m. on the 13th. The caller said someone had been stabbed at a building in Guwol-dong and added, "Students have been stabbed. Hurry, please."
When the dispatcher repeatedly tried to calm the caller and asked whether the situation was still dangerous, the caller replied that the victims had come into the office and gave the location. The caller and colleagues locked the entrance to keep the attacker out after two people, including a 19-year-old woman identified by her surname initial, fled into the office from a second-floor restaurant area with stab wounds.
Following instructions from an emergency medical dispatcher who took over the call, the caller laid the young woman down with her wounds facing upward and worked with colleagues to stop the bleeding. "She's losing too much blood," the caller said, urgently asking, "How long will it take?" Meanwhile, more calls came in to the 119 emergency line reporting a stabbing and pleading for a fast response. In the minutes after the attack, fire authorities received 25 emergency calls, including 21 general reports and four requests for joint response from police.
Firefighters arrived at the scene 13 minutes after the first call. The young woman was taken to a hospital while receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and she has yet to regain consciousness.
The suspect, Choi Chung-rak, 59, has been detained on charges of attempting to murder 10 people by attacking them with a knife at a large commercial complex in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, at about 1:48 p.m. on the 13th. Eight of the 10 victims were injured, according to investigators.
In police questioning, Choi said he had held a grievance against a hospital where he was treated for a skin condition, and that he carried out the attack to draw public attention to his situation after the hospital reported him to police and he became the subject of a criminal investigation. He also said he had initially considered a daycare center as the site of the attack before abandoning that plan.
Choi has been punished twice before for attempted murder. He also has a total of 10 prior criminal convictions carrying fines or heavier penalties. He was wearing an electronic monitoring anklet at the time of the attack and was required to wear it until 2029.
Police searched Choi's home in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, on the 17th and seized a notepad, packets of medication and a picket sign used for solo protests. They plan to analyze the seized items to investigate how he prepared for the attack and chose the location.