INCHEON — Choi Chung-rak, 59, who attacked 10 people with knives at a large commercial complex in Incheon, visited a probation office earlier the same day carrying the weapons in his bag but went undetected because the metal detector had been turned off, police said. Officers have obtained statements that probation office staff had left the detector switched off since at least January and plan to ask the Ministry of Justice to investigate.
According to the Incheon Namdong Police Station on the 23rd, Choi visited a probation office in Incheon on the morning of the 13th with a kitchen knife, a paring knife, a hammer and scissors in his backpack. A walk-through metal detector designed to screen for weapons was installed at the entrance but had been unplugged. Choi passed through without any screening, met with a probation officer and left the building.
A police official said probation officers told investigators they had stopped operating the detector for convenience because it was sensitive and set off alarms whenever members of the public entered. The officers indicated they had left the device switched off since at least January, according to police. Investigators confirmed this while reviewing closed-circuit television footage from the probation office.
Choi told investigators he had been searched at the probation office in the past and feared the weapons would be discovered that day, according to police. Because the detector was not operating, the weapons were never found.
Police concluded there were problems with security management at the probation office and plan to request an investigation by the Ministry of Justice. Whether leaving the detector switched off constitutes dereliction of duty under criminal law requires further review, they said.
Police referred Choi to the Incheon District Prosecution Service on the 23rd in custody on charges of attempted murder and carrying a weapon in a public place. He is accused of attacking 10 people with knives at a large commercial complex in Guwol-dong, Namdong District, Incheon, at about 1:46 p.m. on the 13th.
Choi had begun planning an attack on random victims two or three days earlier, police said. He left home that day with the weapons but without a specific location or target in mind. After visiting the probation office and completing paperwork for a leave of absence at Korea National Open University, he noticed a blade protruding about 5 centimeters from his backpack. Convinced that a passerby who saw it would have called police, he headed for the nearby commercial complex, investigators said.
Choi attacked seven people who were eating at a food court on the second floor, then moved to the third floor and attacked three others who tried to stop him. On his right hand he was wearing a device he had fashioned from tape to secure the blade to his hand, and he held weapons in both hands. Police believe he prepared the device to secure the blade to his hand and stab more deeply.
Police concluded the case was a premeditated attack without a conventional motive, driven by delusions. Choi clashed with a hospital in July over treatment for a skin condition and began staging solo protests in August. After he came under police investigation, he developed an irrational belief that the hospital and police were colluding to monitor him, investigators said. Choi told police he decided to commit a major crime to make his grievance known to the world.
On the 9th of last month, Choi was questioned by police while carrying a kitchen knife during a solo protest in front of the hospital. He claimed at the time that he needed it to punch holes in his protest placard. Police said they could not confiscate it because there was no evidence he had threatened anyone. The knife checked by police then was different from the weapons used in the attack, investigators said.
Two of the 10 people injured in the attack remain hospitalized, and one has yet to regain consciousness. Police plan to review the management system for high-risk individuals in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and other agencies.