By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

Police on Sunday captured an ex-convict who stabbed two police officers to death in western Seoul on Aug. 1 while they were trying to arrest him on rape and battery charges.

Police said they detained Lee Hak-man, 35, around 7:00 p.m. in a villa in Panghwa-dong, western Seoul, after receiving a report from a resident who said the suspect broke into his house.

As police raided the house, Lee injured himself by stabbing his abdomen and thighs several times while holding a child and a 48-year-old woman as hostages to resist arrest.

He was immediately sent to Ehwa Womans University Mok-dong Hospital for emergency treatment. Police said he is in stable condition as is recovering at the heavily guarded emergency room.

Investigators quoted the caller, who was only identified by his surname Shin, as stating that Lee was with his child and his mother after the suspect broke into his house to steal some money.

Lee, an ex-convict with 10 previous criminal records, had been on the run for eight days since he killed two police officers, Shim Jae-ho, 32, and Lee Jae-hyon, 27, in a coffee shop near Sinchon on Aug. 1.

Right after the fatal stabbing, Lee fled driving a taxi and police lost track of him in central Seoul. The cab was found in Singil-dong, western Seoul, on Aug. 2.

Police had distributed about 5,000 leaflets carrying his photo and personal data and also offered a 20-million-won reward for anyone who could provide information leading to the suspect’s arrest. The reward was raised Aug. 6 to 50 million won as they had made little progress in capturing him.

Since the murdered officers did not carry guns and only brought truncheons while trying to apprehend him, many people are now calling for changes in police regulations on the usage of firearms.

The police was once mislead by an elementary school student who used Lee’s registration number on Aug. 3, when they made an extensive search for the suspect in two apartment buildings in Tonam-dong.

e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr