Complained About a Hospital, But "Targeted the Weak for Greater Attention"

[Anchor]

The reasons why Choi Choong-rak considered a day-care center as a target for his crime are easily understood just by looking at the circumstances at the time of the incident. He targeted only the vulnerable who were weaker than himself, and there was a clear reason for it.

Reporter Je Hui-won examined the details.

[Reporter]

On October 13, 6 of the 8 people injured by the weapon wielded by Choi Choong-rak at a large multi-use commercial complex in Guwol-dong, Incheon, were women.

[Shin Joong-hyun / Citizen who subdued Choi: "They shouted, 'It's a knife rampage!' There were young children and middle-aged women there (mostly)."]

When men blocked him while holding chairs, the place Choi Choong-rak headed next was toward the women's restroom.

[Kang Byung-hoon / Citizen who subdued Choi: "Since people were all holding chairs and resisting, I guess he thought it wouldn't work and turned his direction toward an easier side. So toward the women's restroom and..."]

At the 2nd-floor restaurant area of the building, where 6 people were injured including a 19-year-old woman who has yet to regain consciousness, there were many women and young children at the time.

On the 4th floor, where he tried to go up to escape the men who were confronting him, there was a movie theater as well as a kids' cafe.

[Shin Joong-hyun / Citizen who subdued Choi: "I thought it would be a huge problem if he went up. I remember walking forward with a chair in my hand."]

Previously, Choi had held a one-person protest for over two months in front of a hospital where he had conflicts over dermatology treatments.

He is reportedly known to have stated to the police that, holding a grudge after facing police investigation due to a report by the hospital side, he committed the crime with the thought that he needed to make news.

At the same time, Choi claimed that he did not target specific victims,

[Yesterday (October 16), Incheon District Court: (Didn't you target only the vulnerable?) No.]

Experts emphasized that Choi intentionally targeted multiple vulnerable people to draw greater attention.

[Lee Soo-jung, Professor of Forensic Psychology at Kyonggi University: "(The targets of the crime) were not specific individuals who caused him resentment at all, but rather had to be people with the lowest defense capabilities so that he could cause multiple casualties. It seems to be a crime where that was the goal."]

Police plan to continue their investigation based on profiler analysis results to verify the connection between Choi Choong-rak's mental illness and his motive for the crime.

(Photo courtesy of Newsis) (Video reporting: Joo Yong-jin | Video editing: Park Na-young | Video courtesy of Newsis)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.