Threats of copycat crimes follow department store stabbing rampage near Seoul

▲ This image, provided by a reader, shows an internet-circulated threat to "kill as many people as possible" near Ori Station on the evening of Aug. 4, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

stabbing rampage-copycat crimes

Threats of copycat crimes follow department store stabbing rampage near Seoul

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- A series of threats to commit copycat crimes have been posted online following a stabbing rampage at a department store in Bundang, just south of Seoul, sending police to step up patrols and hunt down the writers, authorities said Friday.

On Thursday evening, a man in his early 20s, surnamed Choi, rammed his vehicle into pedestrians outside of the department store and then attacked shoppers with a knife inside the store, which is connected to the nearby Seohyeon Station and draws many commuters and shoppers.

The attack left 14 people wounded, 12 of them seriously. Of the total, nine were wounded in the stabbing attack and five in the car crash. Police quickly apprehended the suspect, and a rapid drug test conducted on him was negative. The suspect reportedly showed symptoms of a persecution complex.

About an hour after the rampage, two copycat crime threats were posted online.

The first post rapidly circulated online at around 6:40 p.m., threatening to "go on a stabbing rampage near Ori Station," also in Bundang, between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Friday to "kill as many people as possible."

The writer said he chose the location because his ex-girlfriend lives in the area, and he does not have any wish to live anymore.

The second post with a photo of a weapon appeared at 7:09 p.m., threatening to "stab 20 hannams at Seohyeon Station on Friday." "Hannam" is a misandrist internet portmanteau of "hankuk namja," or Korean man in English.

The police immediately launched an investigation to hunt down the writers and stepped up monitoring of the internet, while police squads were sent to the Ori and Seohyeon subway stations, as well as two other subway stations in the area, to be on standby to respond to any emergency situations.

On Friday, the police said two more copycat crime threats had been posted online the previous day.

One of them threatened to kill 20 people Friday morning at Jamsil Station, and the other to go on a stabbing rampage at 10 p.m. on Friday at Hanti Station. Both of the stations are in southern Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency began to hunt down the writers, and police patrol vehicles were sent to the areas to search for and determine if there were any criminal signs.

Public fears have been growing as the Seoul area has seen two stabbing rampages in less than two weeks, and a dozen copycat crime threats have been made following the rampages.

On July 21, a 33-year-old man named Cho Seon fatally stabbed a complete stranger in his 20s near Sillim Station in Seoul and then attacked three other men in a nearby alleyway.

The previous day, the police established a special team dedicated to dealing with such online murder threats.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved