"Man in Black Clothes Carrying a Weapon Roaming Around"...Caught After 14-Hour Relay Search

"Accurate Handover Enabled Early Arrest"

A middle-aged man wandering the streets late at night armed with a weapon was apprehended by the police after a relay search lasting about 14 hours.

On the 23rd, the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency disclosed the report received from a citizen around midnight on November 14th last year through their official YouTube channel. At that time, the citizen informed the police, "There is a person carrying a knife wandering on the road in Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do."

A man carrying a weapon wandering the streets late at night in November last year. Photo captured from the National Police Agency's YouTube.

The police immediately dispatched officers and conducted a thorough search of the area near the road but were unable to locate the suspect. Subsequently, the police gathered detailed information about the suspect’s appearance through inquiries and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near the road. About seven hours after the report, at around 7:30 a.m. on the same day, the information was handed over to the day shift team.

The day shift team promptly boarded four patrol cars and resumed searching the surrounding area. Approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes into the search, at around 2 p.m., the police found suspect A sitting on a chair at a convenience store near the incident location. At that time, A was wearing a black jacket matching the suspect’s description.

It is reported that the suspect was apprehended after the night police team handed over the collected information to the day team and continued the search. Photo by National Police Agency YouTube capture

The police immediately conducted a stop-and-frisk on A and performed a body search. A weapon was found in the right pocket of A’s jumper, and the police promptly arrested him on charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (habitual offender). During the police investigation, A stated, "I was carrying the weapon to retaliate after being assaulted by an acquaintance."

A police official stated, "Thanks to the swift and accurate handover of key case information between the night and day teams, we were able to apprehend the suspect early. We are relieved that a situation that could have escalated into a serious crime was prevented in advance."