Evacuated residents spend sleepless night as police defuse bombs found in home of shooting suspect

A man who shot and killed his son during a birthday party, was later found to have planted explosives in his home. He was arrested after a police raid evacuated local residents.

Police tape is put up at an apartment in northern Seoul where a man in his 60s, who allegedly shot his own son on July 20, lives [YONHAP]

Early Monday morning, 28 members of a police special operations unit raided a residential-commercial complex in Ssangmun-dong, Dobong District, northern Seoul. The raid followed testimony from a man in his 60s who had been arrested for shooting and killing his son with a homemade shotgun in Incheon the previous evening that he had planted explosives in his home.

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the special operations unit completed the evacuation of 105 people — 69 residents and 36 commercial workers — from the building starting at 2:15 a.m. At around 3:54 a.m., officers searched the site and located explosives, including 14 containers of paint thinner and a timed ignition device. The bomb was safely defused over the course of 23 minutes.

The timer on the device had been set to detonate at noon on Monday. Experts said that because the suspect’s apartment was on the eighth floor — a mid-level floor in the building — the explosives could have engulfed the entire complex in flames had they not been removed in time. Evacuated residents, who had spent a sleepless night at local health centers or motels, expressed relief.

“The suspect had already placed flammable materials in his home in Dobong District before the shooting incident,” according to Incheon Yeonsu Police Precinct. “He is believed to have planted the explosives after deciding he would not be returning home.”

The man, who shot his son and planted the homemade bomb, was neither under the influence of alcohol nor drugs, and had no known history of mental illness. Police have deployed professional profilers to investigate his motives. Authorities plan to seek an arrest warrant on charges of murder and violating the Act on the Safety Control of Firearms, Swords and Explosives.

Ammunition used by a man in his 60s who allegedly shot his own son in Incheon on July 20 [INCHEON METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Explosives, made by a man in his 60s who allegedly shot his own son with a homemade gun on July 20, installed at an apartment complex in Dobong District, northern Seoul [INCHEON METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Residents of the Ssangmun-dong apartment said the man had no known conflicts with neighbors and was considered quiet and unobtrusive. “He always paid his neighborhood community membership fee on time,” said a resident in their 50s.

The suspect shot his 34-year-old son at around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday on the 33rd floor of an apartment in Songdo International City, Incheon, during a birthday gathering for the suspect. He used a homemade shotgun fashioned from a steel pipe. He fired three rounds, each containing 12 pellets — two shots struck his son and one hit the door. The son, who was hit in the chest and abdomen, was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive.

The suspect told police that “family discord” was his motive but has refused to explain the specific nature of the conflict or when he planned the crime.

The son’s wife reported the incident to the police, saying, “My father-in-law shot my husband. He stepped out briefly during the birthday gathering and came back with a gun.” At the time, the daughter-in-law, her two children and a friend were also in the home.

An apartment complex in Songdo, Incheon, where a man in his 60s allegedly shot his own son on July 20 [NEWS1]

Police quickly issued an alert for the suspect’s rental vehicle and apprehended him at 12:15 a.m. on Monday in Banpo-dong, Seocho District, Seoul. He reportedly did not resist arrest.

Eleven steel pipes intended for use as gun barrels were found in his vehicle, some already loaded. Police also recovered 86 rounds of ammunition. The suspect reportedly told investigators he had learned how to make firearms online and had purchased the ammunition about 20 years ago from a licensed hunter while considering taking his own life. He had stored the ammunition in a warehouse since then.

The man, who is unemployed, divorced his wife 20 years ago and had only occasional contact with his son.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY KIM JEONG-JAE, IM SOUNG-BIN, KIM CHANG-YONG, OH SO-YEONG [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]