A man from New Jersey was charged with attempted second-degree murder over the weekend after he flew to Florida and attacked another gamer with a hammer allegedly over a dispute in an MMORPG, according to police.
On the morning of June 23, Edward Kang, a 20-year-old man, was arrested by Nassau County Florida police after arriving at the house of Zachary Dinh and allegedly assaulting him with a hammer he bought at a store just before the attack. According to police, as reported by The New York Times, Kang had never met Dinh in person, but the two allegedly interacted in the MMORPG ArcheAge.
At this time it’s unknown exactly what happened between the two men online in the MMORPG, but police said the hammer attack was caused by “an online altercation” within ArcheAge.
“I don’t know what transpired between the victim and the suspect, but something made the suspect want to come down to Florida and injure the other individual,” explained Sherif Bill Leeper.
According to police, Kang flew from Newark to Jacksonville and then checked into a Florida hotel on June 21. Allegedly, Kang told his family that he was traveling to Florida to visit a friend. After arriving in Florida, Kang visited a local hardware store and bought a hammer and a flashlight. Then early on Sunday morning, while dressed in all black clothes and wearing a mask, Kang arrived at Dinh’s house and entered via an unlocked door. Once he got in, Kang reportedly began attacking the victim with a hammer. Dinh’s stepfather heard the commotion and intervened. The two then worked together to subdue the attacker and called the police.
The New York Times reports Dinh was treated at a hospital for server head wounds and was later released. Kang has been charged with attempted murder as well as armed burglary. He’s currently being held in a Nassau County jail without bond. Kang reportedly called his mother and admitted to attacking someone, but said he had no plans to kill Dinh.
“This is a weird one,” said Sheriff Leeper during a news conference. “Some things make you say, ‘Hmm.’ Some things, you just can’t make up. There are some things that make you say, ‘What in the world was he thinking?’ And there are some things that make you say, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ This case makes you say all four of those.”
Police questioned Kang about why he attacked Dinh with a hammer and he simply said: “He is a bad person online.”
Ironically, ArcheAge—the MMORPG in which Kang and Dinh interacted and which led to this whole attack—shut down due to a lack of users on June 27.
.