Gamer charged with attempted murder after ‘weird’ in-game dispute
Police have arrested and charged an ArcheAge fan for almost killing someone he’d never met with a hammer, after a feud in the online game.
Edward Kang, 20, is accused of flying from New Jersey to Florida in the US, with the intention of killing another player he’d never met in person, because of a dispute in the online video game.
The accused was arrested after a hammer attack in the victim’s house, which led to the target suffering severe but non-life-threatening head wounds.
The unnamed victim only survived the attack because he and his stepfather managed to disarm and restrain the culprit until police arrived.
Sheriff Bill Leeper said: ‘I just want to let you know this is a weird one. […] Some things you just can’t make up.’
Kang been charged with second-degree attempted murder and attempted burglary.
The victim told authorities that he took a break from gaming when he found Kang with a hammer positioned above his head, in a ‘strike position’.
His stepfather was alerted when he heard screams for help and found his stepson on the ground with Kang above him.
Leeper said: ‘The victim and the stepfather managed to disarm Kang and restrain him until our deputies arrived on scene.’
Police officers arrived and arrested Kang, and found a ‘significant amount of blood’ in the house. The suspect entered the house through an unlocked door and wore all black, including gloves and a mask.
There aren’t many details about exactly why Kang decided to fly across the US to attack the victim, other than it was because of an online dispute, and Kang himself saying: ‘He’s a bad person online.’
The video game in question is massively multiplayer online role-player ArcheAge, which is shutting down its servers today because of declining player numbers.
Leeper also said that Kang had asked an officer how much time a person would get in jail for breaking and entering and assault, to which the sheriff added: ‘I would say, Mr Kang, it’s going to be a long time before you play video games again.’
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