Mr. A, the deceased arson suspect in his 60s,
previously lived on the third floor and had conflicts with the upstairs neighbor
Police suspect a crime driven by resentment... conducting interviews
A fire broke out in an apartment in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, after an act of arson, resulting in the death of the suspected arsonist and injuries of varying severity among residents. It has come to light that the suspect, a man in his 60s, previously lived on the third floor of the apartment and had conflicts with the upstairs neighbor over noise between floors, raising the possibility that this was a crime driven by anger.
On April 22, the Gwanak Police Station in Seoul announced that an autopsy would be conducted on the suspected arsonist, identified as Mr. A (61). The purpose is to determine whether Mr. A died by suicide after setting the fire, or whether he died as a result of being burned during the act of arson.
The fire started at 8:17 a.m. on the previous day, April 21, on the fourth floor of a 21-story corridor-style apartment building in Bongcheon-dong. At the time, fire authorities responded to the emergency call and began firefighting operations. Two women in their 70s and 80s who fell from the fourth floor suffered severe burns over their entire bodies and were transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Four people with minor injuries, including those who fell or suffered smoke inhalation, were also taken to the hospital, and seven others who only inhaled smoke received on-site treatment.
After the fire was extinguished at around 9:54 a.m., police discovered a tool suspected to be either a pesticide sprayer or a car wash gun next to Mr. A's burned body in the fourth-floor corridor. Police then identified Mr. A through fingerprint analysis and other means. In addition, Mr. A's motorcycle and a gasoline can were found in the apartment's underground parking lot. Police are tracking the process by which Mr. A obtained the tools and gasoline, and, together with fire authorities, are conducting a joint inspection at the scene to determine the exact cause of the fire.
According to the police investigation, Mr. A lived on the third floor of the apartment until the end of last year and had ongoing conflicts with the upstairs neighbor due to noise between floors. In September of last year, police were called to the apartment after a dispute between Mr. A and the upstairs resident. Based on this, police believe there is a high possibility that Mr. A committed the crime out of resentment stemming from conflicts with neighbors, including noise issues, and are continuing to interview Mr. A's family and other residents.
Of the 291 people arrested by police on murder charges in 2023, 72 individuals (24.7%) committed their crimes due to "interpersonal conflicts between the parties involved." This was the third most common motive, following carelessness or negligence (29.6%) and other reasons (27.5%). A representative case of an anger-driven crime is the 2017 incident in Jinju, Gyeongnam, where Ahn In-deuk (47) set fire to his own home, went outside, and then attacked residents evacuating the building with a weapon, resulting in 22 deaths or injuries. At the time, Ahn In-deuk also displayed abnormal behavior and had conflicts with neighbors.
Cases like this show that individuals with anger control disorders often display a lack of hesitation toward violence, and the likelihood of such behavior escalating into crime is relatively high. The number of people diagnosed with anger control disorder increased by about 20%, from 1,885 in 2020 to 2,256 in 2023. The number of patients who received treatment for anger control disorder at least once a month also rose from 7,055 in 2022 to 7,919 in 2023.
Im Myungho, a professor in the Department of Psychotherapy at Dankook University, stated, "People with this mindset see the whole world as an enemy and believe they are being harmed, leading them to direct anger at unspecified targets. It is important to recognize the risks in advance and exercise caution through regular communication."
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