"No Utility Knife, So I Brought a Kitchen Knife"... Police Returned Seized Weapon After Hearing Explanation

It has been found that when Choi Choong-rak, the suspect in the Incheon random weapon attack, staged a one-person protest in front of a hospital in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, about a month prior to the crime, the police dispatched officers to seize a weapon, but returned it after the protest ended.

According to data obtained from the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency by Representative Park Sang-woong of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the police received a report at around 10:10 a.m. on September 9 stating, "Someone is holding a kitchen knife during a one-person protest, which makes me anxious."

Upon arriving at the scene, the police listened to Choi Choong-rak's statement that he "carried a kitchen knife because there was no utility knife," but closed the case on-site after storing the weapon at a nearby district police unit.

Furthermore, the stored weapon was handed right back to Choi Choong-rak after the one-person protest concluded.

Only after a complaint containing the same content was filed through the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Safety Sinmungo portal did the police initiate an investigation. Following interviews with hospital officials, the police investigated Choi on October 6 on charges of carrying a weapon in a public place.

The police seized the weapon that Choi Choong-rak was carrying through a voluntary submission, confirmed his criminal record for attempted murder and the fact that he was wearing an electronic tracking anklet, and notified his probation officer of the booking.

However, while the police failed to secure his custody, Choi Choong-rak went on a random weapon rampage at a large commercial facility in Namdong-gu, Incheon, on the afternoon of October 13.

Eight citizens were injured, and a 19-year-old woman among them remains unconscious.

During police questioning, Choi Choong-rak stated that he committed the crime to make news and draw society's attention to his grievances against the hospital where he had staged the one-person protest.

Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.