Police Investigation Reveals Motive:
"Committed the Crime Out of Frustration After Being Excluded from Teaching"
"Sought a Target Thinking 'Any Child Would Do'"
On the 11th, a funeral hall in Seo-gu, Daejeon, was set up as the mourning place for Kim Ha-neul (8), the victim of the Daejeon elementary school murder case. Photo by Yonhap News
On the 10th, a female teacher in her 40s, identified as A, who stabbed and killed 8-year-old first grader Kim Haneul at an elementary school in Daejeon with a weapon and then attempted self-harm, reportedly told the police that she committed the crime out of frustration after being excluded from teaching duties.
On the 11th, Yuk Jong-myeong, chief of the Daejeon Seobu Police Station investigating the case, revealed that teacher A told the police, "I got irritated just three days after returning to work. ○○ prevented me from entering the class."
Based on A’s statement to the police regarding the circumstances and motive of the crime, she had been receiving treatment for depression since 2018. On December 9 of last year, she took a six-month medical leave and even contemplated extreme measures during her leave. It was confirmed that she suddenly returned to work after about 20 days at the end of last year, claiming to have received a "normal medical opinion" from a doctor. She mentioned a specific person who excluded her from teaching and said to the police, "I got irritated just three days after returning to work."
On the afternoon of the 11th, Chief Yuk Jong-myeong of the Daejeon Western Police Station held a briefing regarding the police investigation into the murder case of Kim Ha-neul, an elementary school student in Daejeon. Photo by Yonhap News
On the afternoon of the day of the crime, the female teacher bought a weapon outside and entered the school. She testified that she committed the crime with the intention of dying together with a child who was coming out of the after-school care class outside the audiovisual room. She said she looked for a target with the thought that "any child would do," and told the police that she lured the last child leaving by saying "I will give you a book," brought the child into the audiovisual room, strangled the child’s neck, and stabbed with the weapon.
The day before, an incident occurred at an elementary school in Seogu, Daejeon, where a female teacher in her 40s stabbed and killed Kim Haneul. According to the Daejeon police and fire authorities, around 6 p.m. that day, Kim and teacher A were found stabbed on the second floor of an elementary school building in Gwanjeo-dong, Seogu, Daejeon. It was also reported that teacher A had recently shown violent behavior toward colleagues. Currently, after surgery, A is recovering in the hospital’s intensive care unit. The police plan to investigate the exact motive and circumstances of the crime once A’s health improves.
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