Attack type shooting Non-fatal injuries 7 | Deaths 5 Date 21 June 2014 | |
Location Eastern Gangwon Province, South Korea Target South Korean army soldiers Weapons K-2 assault rifle, hand grenades | ||
On June 21, 2014, Sergeant Lim, a 22 year old conscript in the South Korean army, killed five and wounded seven of his fellow soldiers.
Sgt. Lim opened fire with a K2 assault rifle and lobbied a hand grenade at soldiers at the barracks of the 22nd Infantry Division in eastern Gangwon Province, near the Demilitarized Zone with North Korea. After a shooting spree, he fled into the woods armed with his rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition. A massive manhunt was put underway with orders to "shoot and kill", involving 4,000 troops and dozens of helicopters. The next day, Sgt. Lim was tracked down near a school and cordoned off, near the city of Goseong, six miles from the North Korean border. Negotiations went underway for his surrender. During a brief exchange of fire a South Korean platoon leader was injured, before Sgt. Lim attempted suicide, shooting himself in the abdomen.
In February 2015, Sgt. Lim was sentenced to death by South Korea's top court. Under South Korean military law, a soldier must face the death penalty for killing a superior, among those killed in the killing spree was a staff sergeant.