By Jung Min-ho
A man shot dead three people linked to his former girlfriend in Sejong City in a premeditated act of revenge against her, police said Wednesday.
After fleeing the crime scene in a car, the 50-year-old shooter, surnamed Kang, later committed suicide near the Geum River after turning his gun on himself.
According to police, he first killed his ex-girlfriend’s brother, surnamed Kim, who was sitting in a car parked near a convenience store at 8:15 a.m. with an 18.5mm shotgun.
He then broke into the nearby home of her father, 74, and killed him there, before going to the convenience store where her boyfriend, surnamed Song, was working and shooting him.
During the attack, the woman was visiting friends in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, police said.
The three victims were taken to nearby hospitals, but were pronounced dead.
Police added that Kang also set fire to the store.
Two hours after the shootings, he was found dead in his car three kilometers away from the store with a gunshot wound to the head.
Prior to heading to Sejong, Kang had checked out two shotguns he had stored at Gongju Police Station in South Chungcheong Province. He had a license to possess hunting guns.
Firearms of a caliber of 5.5mm or bigger are required by law to be placed in police safekeeping.
Police found one shotgun in his car and the other one next to his body. Police said Kang had been carrying 32 cartridges, five of which he fired.
Investigators are now trying to establish what motive he had for the killings.
Police revealed that Kang had previously lived with his girlfriend before their relationship ended; she later moved in with Song.
Sources close to the Kim family said that Kang and the victims may also have been in a dispute over money.
Police found Kang had been wrangling over the ownership of the convenience store, which is currently under the name of the ex-girlfriend’s father.
They have requested the National Forensic Service to perform an autopsy on Kang.
Police deployed a helicopter and more than 100 officers to the scene.
Kang’s two shotguns were 18.5mm caliber, and imported from the United States and Italy.
Those holding a hunting license are allowed to have shotguns. Police said there are 38,401 privately-owned shotguns registered with police nationwide.