A man in his 50s who went on a knife rampage at a large commercial complex in Incheon was subdued on the 13th after a 23-year-old office worker acted quickly and bystanders joined in. The worker, who was heading to a movie with his girlfriend, first tried to flee when he heard screams but turned back after realizing there were many young children near the theater. He threw a nearby chair to block the assailant from reaching the floor, preventing a bigger toll.
According to Incheon Namdong Police Station and other sources, a 59-year-old man identified only as A was overpowered by citizens at around 1:40 p.m. that day after swinging a knife at random people inside the see&see commercial building in Guwol-dong, Namdong District, Incheon. The building houses a hypermarket and a movie theater and draws heavy foot traffic, raising the risk of far greater casualties.
Shin Jung-hyun, 23, was on his way with his girlfriend to the CGV theater on the fourth floor. At first he thought the noise was children playing, but as he got closer he heard screams of "Help me" and "Run." Moments later he saw A holding a knife. A was climbing up a down escalator, trying to reach the fourth floor.
Shin tried to get away with his girlfriend. But he noticed that many of the people around the theater were young children and women. Judging that more people could be harmed if A made it to the fourth floor, he turned back.
"If that man had come up to the fourth floor, there would have been no one to stop him and I thought everyone would die," Shin said in a telephone interview with Yonhap News Agency.
Shin picked up a backless chair that was sitting nearby. When A appeared at the top of the escalator, Shin threw the chair with all his strength. A was struck and fell, then moved toward the third floor along the descending escalator.
Shin immediately shouted to people on the floor below to grab A. Those who heard him pinned the fallen man down with a chair. Police who arrived at the scene then arrested A.
Shin said he learned from news reports after the incident that A had swung the knife indiscriminately at several people. Had A reached the fourth floor, he said, neither he nor his girlfriend would have escaped unharmed.
"There were so many young children that I felt I had to stop him, but honestly I did it because I wanted to live too," Shin said. "I'm just relieved that worse harm was prevented."