South Korean police uncover bomb cache after father kills son at birthday party
The suspect said the shooting stemmed from long-standing resentment between him and his son over a divorce
What was meant to be a birthday celebration on Sunday in Incheon’s Songdo neighbourhood ended in a shocking act of violence and the discovery of a cache of home-made explosive devices.
The father fired two rounds into his son’s chest and abdomen after stepping out briefly during the evening and returning with a gun he had crafted himself. After Cho fled the scene in a car, police apprehended him three hours later in Seoul’s Seocho district.
Inside the vehicle, officers discovered 10 more home-made firearms, 11 metal pipes likely intended as additional barrels and 86 rounds of improvised buckshot – some already loaded, according to Yonhap News TV.
The investigation widened to Cho’s home in Seoul’s Dobong district, where police uncovered 15 improvised explosive devices. Constructed from plastic bottles filled with thinner and connected to timers and ignition devices, several were set to detonate at noon the next day. Authorities evacuated more than 100 residents and safely defused the explosives.
When asked about his motive, Cho told investigators the killing stemmed from long-standing resentment between him and his son, rooted in a bitter divorce two decades earlier, Dong-A Ilbo reported.