SEOUL: South Korean police said on Monday (May 19) that a man remained at large after stabbing four people, leaving two dead, as authorities warned local residents to avoid going out until he was apprehended.
Around 9.30am (8.30am, Singapore time) on Monday, the suspect stabbed a convenience store owner, a woman in her sixties, and fled the scene in Gyeonggi Province, west of Seoul.
After police responded to that stabbing, they went to the suspect’s house where they found a body, which “is yet to be identified”, a Siheung Police Station official told AFP.
About two hours later, the suspect stabbed another man in his seventies before again fleeing the scene.
Shortly after that, police discovered another body near a house close to the convenience store.
The injured victims were receiving treatment at a hospital and were recovering, a police official said.
The suspect remains at large, and “the Siheung Police Station is mobilising all its forces to catch the suspect,” the police said.
Local residents received a warning message on Monday afternoon from Siheung city hall saying: “A stabbing incident occurred today in the Jeongwang-dong area”.
It added that police were “currently searching the scene”.
“Citizens are advised to avoid going out and prioritise their safety.”
The city later sent out another warning message that the suspect was “in his mid-50s with a balding head, wearing a dark-coloured jumper and pants, and a light blue top”, adding that if he was seen, it should be reported immediately.
“We have released an official public wanted poster for a quick capture,” a Siheung police official told AFP.
The case comes months after a teacher fatally stabbed an eight-year-old student at an elementary school in South Korea, and most recently, a student who stabbed four at a school.
However, South Korea is generally a very safe country, with a murder rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people in 2021, according to official statistics, well below the global average of six per 100,000.
