Ten Hurt in Stabbing Attack at Incheon Shopping Complex, Suspect Arrested

Ten people were hurt, one critically, after a knife attack at a shopping complex in the South Korean city of Incheon on Tuesday afternoon. Police said a 59-year-old man, carrying a knife in each hand, rode an escalator up to the ground floor and struck at bystanders at random before he was stopped. He has been arrested on charges of attempted murder.

FAKTA

• Where and when: commercial complex in Guwol-dong, Namdong District, Incheon, about 1:48 p.m. local time, Tuesday, October 13
• Victims: 10 in total — eight physically injured, including a woman in her 20s on a ventilator; two escaped unharmed
• Suspect: a 59-year-old man, arrested at the scene
• Deaths: none confirmed
• Status: investigation ongoing; police plan to seek a detention warrant

How the attack unfolded

According to the Incheon Namdong Police Station, the suspect came up an escalator from the basement to the ground floor of the complex, which houses a Homeplus Guwol branch, and began attacking people around him. Panic swept through the food-court area as shoppers fled and emergency calls came in.

Early reports counted eight injured. Officers later raised the figure to ten: eight suffered physical wounds, while two more escaped injury — in one case, the tip struck a pack of cigarettes in a victim’s pocket. Five remain in hospital across Incheon, and two with minor injuries are receiving outpatient care. A woman in her 20s, who went into cardiac arrest at the scene, underwent emergency surgery on Tuesday. Her heartbeat returned, but she remains unconscious and on a ventilator.

Suspect questioned over motive

The man, identified only as “A”, was subdued at the scene and taken into custody. In questioning, he said he carried out the attack to draw attention after a hospital ignored his complaints about treatment for a skin condition, saying he wanted to “create news.” He denied intending to kill anyone.

Police said his account contained inconsistencies — the hospital he complained about was in a different district — and they have brought in three criminal profilers to assess his statements. He had staged a one-man protest outside a hospital in Gyeyang-gu over the same complaint, and officers had questioned him on October 6 after he brandished a weapon during that protest. A preliminary drug test came back negative, though medication he was carrying — reportedly from a neuropsychiatric clinic — has been sent for analysis.

Public safety in focus

President Lee Jae Myung visited the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on Tuesday evening to be briefed on the attack. The case has revived unease about indiscriminate knife attacks in crowded public places; South Korea experienced a wave of similar rampages in 2023.

Police will keep examining witness statements and footage from the scene as they build the case, and they plan to seek a detention warrant for attempted murder and possession of a weapon in a public place. Watan News will continue to follow this story and other international news from the region.