South Korean police Monday summonsed two U.S. soldiers about a weekend incident where a BB gun was fired into a crowd by the occupants of a car which then led police on a high-speed chase through the streets of Seoul.
One of the soldiers was questioned Monday, while the other asked to delay his response until he recovered from a gunshot injury allegedly suffered during the incident, Yonghap news agency reported.
The two soldiers — a 26-year-old staff sergeant and a 23-year-old private first class who have not been named but serve in the 8th U.S. Army at Yongsan Garrison — are wanted for questioning about the incident in which they allegedly threatened civilians with a BB gun, then led police on a high speed car chase through the capital city after midnight on Saturday.
They are accused of wounding a police officer and civilians and damaging other vehicles, Yonhap said.
The chase began when the soldiers refused to cooperate with police officers who were dispatched to a subway station after reports that U.S. soldiers were threatening civilians with a BB gun from a car, officials at Yongsan Police Station told the agency.
An unidentified woman was riding in the back seat of the car at the time of the incident, the police said.
Yonhap reported that the private first class who was driving tried to run down a police officer, prompting him to fire first a warning shot, then three further shots at the vehicle.
The driver was hit in the shoulder, but all three made it to the U.S. base. The car was found abandoned nearby.
The injured private is currently undergoing treatment for his wound in a U.S. military hospital and is said to be in stable condition. A police officer and two civilians suffered minor injuries and four cars were damaged in the high-speed chase, officials told Yonhap.
• Shaun Waterman can be reached at swaterman@washingtontimes.com.
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