Korean-American father and daughter found dead in murder-suicide in North Carolina

A tragic incident occurred in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where a Korean-American man shot and killed his daughter before taking his own life.

The Chapel Hill Police Department received a report of a shooting at the Chapel View Apartments at Homestead Road and Brookstone Drive around 2:20 p.m. on March 3. Responding officers found the bodies of a man and a woman with gunshot wounds at the scene.

The police identified the man as Hanho Choi, 70, and the woman as his daughter, Hyejin Choi, 31. Chapel Hill Police Department spokesman Alex Carrasquillo described the incident as a “murder-suicide,” where Choi shot his daughter and then turned the gun on himself.

The father and daughter had reportedly lived together in the apartment where the incident occurred. Police reports at the time also implicated another family member, James Junho Choi, 27, who lives in Durham, about a 30-minute drive from the apartment.

The exact motive for the crime is currently unknown. The Korea Daily reached out to the police department on June 10 to inquire about the incident but was unable to reach anyone for comment.

Chapel Hill is home to the University of North Carolina (UNC), the state’s prominent university.

“It was shocking because there isn’t a lot of Korean population in Chapel Hill,” said Inhwan Park, senior pastor of Chapel Hill Church, adding, “The isolation of Korean seniors who have not adapted to American society in the area has been a problem, but we don’t know if it is related to this incident.”

BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]