Police in Incheon detained a man in his 60s after he set upon shoppers with knives tethered to his hands, wounding eight people inside a supermarket complex on Tuesday. One victim, a woman in her 20s, suffered cardiac arrest and required immediate medical intervention.
The scene was chaotic. According to a witness cited by Yonhap News Agency, the suspect moved through several floors of the complex, attacking individuals as he went. Bystanders eventually subdued him before officers arrived.
The suspect was wearing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, a detail that complicates the narrative of a random act of violence. South Korean media reports confirm he is a man in his 60s. Six women and two men were among the injured.
This incident lands in a shadow cast by recent mass violence in the region. In May, a 17-year-old girl was fatally stabbed in Gwangju by a man in his 20s, who later received a life sentence. Prior to that, a series of stabbing rampages in 2023 left multiple people dead and injured across the country.
Authorities are now investigating the motive and circumstances of the Incheon attack. The suspect remains in custody as forensic teams process the crime scene.