At least 14 injured in South Korea stabbing and car rampage

A man rammed a car into pedestrians before stabbing several people, injuring at least 14, just south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, authorities said Thursday.

The police have not announced a potential motive in the Thursday evening attack in Seongnam city. National broadcaster KBS reported that authorities would investigate the mental health of the suspect, who was taken into custody.

Five people were hit by the vehicle, and nine others were stabbed, according to a police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation.

Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun said authorities were treating the incident as an indiscriminate attack, Yonhap news agency reported. “Unlike traditional crimes driven by personal resentment,” he said, the apparent attack was “in effect, an act of terrorism in that anyone can become a victim.”

Police said they were interrogating the suspect, who is in his 20s and who they said had acted alone.

Three of the victims were in critical condition as of early Friday local time, police said.

Officers cordoned off streets around the scene, and the police commissioner called an emergency meeting of city police chiefs after the attack, which unfolded near Seohyeon subway station and a large department store.

Last month, a rare stabbing attack killed one person and injured three others in Seoul.

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The Washington Post’s Jintak Han contributed to this report.