A man rammed a car onto a sidewalk on Thursday in South Korea, then stepped out of the vehicle and began stabbing people at a shopping mall. Authorities said at least 14 people were wounded in the country’s second mass stabbing in a month.
At least five people were hurt by the car, and nine others were stabbed in the attack that occurred in a crowded leisure district near a subway station in Seongnam, according to Yoon Sung-hyun, an official from the southern Gyeonggi provincial police department.
Authorities arrested a suspect in his 20s at the scene and questioned him. The police did not identify the man or offer immediate information about a potential motive. The head of the National Police Agency described the attack as “virtually an act of terrorism.”
Gyeonggi's provincial fire department official, Ha Dong-geun, said at least two wounded were hospitalized. Photos from the scene showed forensic units examining the AK Plaza halls, where the stabbings took place. A white Kia hatchback with a broken front window and ruptured front tire could be seen on a sidewalk near the subway station.
South Korea’s Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper published a video on its website sent by a witness. The footage showed a man wearing sunglasses and a black hoodie walking up the mall’s escalator with an object in his hand.
A witness named Hwang Hee-woon told YTN television that he “heard a sound from the first floor that sounded like a scream, so customers and shop workers gathered on the rails of the second-floor near the escalator to see what was happening below.”
“Suddenly, someone told us the person who committed the crime was coming up to the second floor, so we ran away in panic,” he said. He was hiding inside a refrigerated storage room with some mall employees.
Last month, a knife-wielding man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in Seoul, killing one.
The National Police Agency held an online meeting on Thursday with regional police chiefs to discuss ways to deal with stabbings and other attacks against random targets.
During the meeting, National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun commented about terrorism. Officials discussed increasing nighttime patrols in leisure districts and other crowded areas and strengthening security camera surveillance, according to the agency.