A man in his 20s who killed a female high school student and attacked a male high school student with a weapon in downtown Gwangju late at night told police he had no particular motive for the crime.
Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station said Monday that Jang (24), who was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder, stated that "I committed the crime after seeing the victim, a complete stranger, passing by." During police questioning, Jang reportedly claimed that "I decided to commit the crime while contemplating suicide because life wasn't fun."
Police view the case as an abnormal-motive crime, commonly known as a "random attack." Based on Jang's statement, investigators are focusing on identifying the motive and plan to determine the full facts of the case through profiler interviews and mobile phone forensics.
Jang is accused of fatally stabbing a second-year high school student, identified as A (17), on a pedestrian path near a university in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, at around 12:11 a.m. that day, and also attacking another second-year high school student, B (17), with a weapon.
According to the initial police investigation, Jang, who lives in a studio apartment district in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, parked his car at the scene and searched for a target. He spotted A walking home alone and carried out the first attack.
B, who happened to be passing nearby, approached the scene to help after hearing what sounded like an argument followed by a woman's scream, and became the second victim.
Immediately after being attacked, B fled the scene, and Jang reportedly chased him for some time before escaping.
After the crime, Jang fled by switching between his car and a taxi. He was apprehended at around 11:24 a.m., about 11 hours after the incident, on a street in front of his residence, not far from the crime scene. Police plan to seek an arrest warrant for Jang as early as that day.
