Policeman killed in gunfight with criminal suspect

Policemen examine the shooting scene in Beon-dong, northeastern Seoul, Wednesday evening, after a criminal suspect shot a police officer. Investigators said the suspect, Seong, 46, fired at the officer after quarreling with his neighbor. The officer was pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby hospital. / Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong

One policeman was shot dead Wednesday evening in a gunfight with a sex offender in northeastern Seoul, police said.

According to the police, the suspect, surnamed Seong, 46, was arrested after the shooting near Mt. Opae Tunnel in Beon-dong, Gangbuk-gu.

The police said the suspect became a fugitive when he removed his electronic ankle monitor and went on the run.

The police found six handmade firearms in his possession. It's unknown how he obtained the firearms and what his motive was.

The suspect shot the policeman surnamed Kim, 54, in the back with a wooden firearm in front of a convenience store near the tunnel at around 6:30 p.m., the police said.

Before the gunfight with the police, the suspect got into a fight with his neighbor, striking the man with a hammer, an investigator said. The neighbor was identified as Lee, 67, a real estate developer.

Responding to a call, police soon arrived at the scene, and the suspect fired at officer Kim and then ran into the tunnel carrying six homemade firearms, an investigator said.

The officer was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment but died during surgery one hour later.

Lee was also taken to a hospital for a minor injury to his head. Another civilian was also taken to a hospital after he was shot in the belly during the gunfire.

"I heard the first shot and though it was a tire blowout," a bystander who saw the suspect said during an interview with a local TV station. "About five minutes later came another shot, and I ran away, because it was clear that it was a gunshot.

The witness also said "I heard people saying that he was drinking with a man and they started quarreling. Then they were brawling and soon he was holding a hammer."

Police said the suspect fled the scene and the police followed him to the tunnel where they exchanged fire. But the witness said it was civilian men who followed him to the tunnel to capture him.

Police found the broken ankle monitor near the store. The firearms have been taken in for police analysis. Making and selling firearms is illegal in Korea.

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