Court rejects ex-police officer's reinstatement bid after running away from knife-wielding man

In this file photo from Nov. 17, 2021, a man who attacked a family of three with a knife leaving the mother and daughter with severe injuries, is seen entering the Incheon District Court for a review of his arrest warrant on charges of attempted murder. A court on Monday rejected a former police officer’s plea to be reinstated after losing his job over fleeing the crime as it happened and failing to protect the family against the knife-wielding man in Incheon three years ago. Yonhap

A court has rejected a former police officer’s bid to be reinstated after losing his job over his bungled response to a knife-wielding man in Incheon three years ago.

According to court officials on Monday, an appellate court in Seoul recently ruled in favor of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, which sacked the former lieutenant and his female partner for fleeing from a man who was attacking women at a residential building on Nov. 15, 2021.

Both carrying handguns and other standard police equipment, the two former officers could have stopped the man if they had responded appropriately, the court said, adding that their failure “seriously damaged the dignity of police.”

The incident occurred when the former officers were responding to a report about the man who was threatening to kill a family of three over noise issues.

While the former lieutenant was talking to the husband of the threatened family outside the building, the female officer remained on the third floor with the wife and daughter of the family. The upper floor resident they had the dispute with suddenly came down and attacked the women with a knife. The female officer fled the scene.

On the way down, she encountered the other officer and the husband running up the stairs. Instead of running toward the women fighting the attacker desperately, the two police officers ran away, leaving the family to defend themselves.

The attacker was stopped by the husband. However, the two women had already sustained severe injuries by that stage, with the mother suffering permanent brain damage.

This issue caused a public uproar, which prompted the Incheon policy agency to dismiss both of the officers involved. Yet they refused to accept the dismissal decision and brought their cases to court separately.

The former female officer’s attempt to be reinstated was rejected by the Supreme Court in March this year.