Brave Citizens Confront Knife-Wielding Attacker... What Police's 1:56 Video Shows

Citizens subdue Choi, who wielded a weapon in each hand, with chairs
One man also tumbled down an escalator during the confrontation

On October 14, police released CCTV footage showing citizens joining forces to subdue Choi, who was on a knife rampage at a large commercial facility in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, on October 13.

Citizens subdue Mr. Choi, the knife-wielding suspect. Provided by the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency.

The 1-minute-56-second CCTV footage released by police clearly shows citizens knocking Choi, the knife-wielding suspect, to the ground.

The previous day, at around 1:49 p.m., Choi went to a large commercial facility in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, and indiscriminately attacked people eating a late lunch and other visitors as he moved around the second-floor restaurant area and other parts of the building.

Eight people were injured. One of the injured, a woman in her 20s, was taken to hospital in cardiac arrest and underwent surgery but has reportedly not regained consciousness. Six other women in their 20s to 50s and a man in his 30s, who injured his wrist while trying to stop Choi, received hospital treatment.

According to police, Choi moved between two floors of the shopping complex and carried out the attack for about four minutes. Citizens inside the building subdued him just before police arrived in response to an emergency call.

In the released footage, a man backs away and holds up a chair as Choi approaches. He swings the chair once at Choi as he charges at him, wielding a knife, but misses.

Choi then drove the man toward an escalator. The man lost his grip on the chair and tumbled down the escalator. As Choi continued up to the floor above, another man approached and threw a chair at him. Choi was hit but kept going up.

Although it does not appear in the footage, a man on the upper floor subdued Choi. Four men who had been watching from the floor below saw that Choi had fallen and piled chairs around him to keep him from moving.

Na Hyunjun, 30, who was the first to report the incident and said he helped subdue Choi, told the Chosun Ilbo, "I pressed down on Choi and subdued him as he came down the escalator, sitting slumped over and bleeding from the head, apparently after being hit by a chair thrown from near the fourth floor. Someone else took the knife from him."

Police rushed to the scene about three seconds after the citizens grabbed Choi. They arrived at 1:53 p.m., about four minutes after receiving the emergency call, but citizens had subdued Choi in the meantime.

Police reportedly thanked the five brave citizens who subdued Choi despite the danger and are considering ways to recognize them.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.