A woman in her 50s fatally stabbed a 78-year-old fellow tenant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday morning, adding to public jitters after a series of incidents involving knife-wielding attackers.

Police said that the women had a quarrel before the younger woman attacked the older one in an alley at around 9:20 a.m. The two, both surnamed Kim, lived alone as tenants in the same house.

“She was not conscious and did not breathe. We tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail,” a hospital official said.

The assailant remained silent at the police inquiry.

The incident occurred after a string of stabbing incidents within a week raised alarm over violent crimes by persons ostracized from society.

On Wednesday, a 30-year-old unemployed man, who held a grudge against his former co-workers, stabbed four people including his former boss and another colleague in Yeouido, the financial center of Seoul. No one died.

The previous day, a 39-year-old man, who was released in 2005 after seven years’ imprisonment for sexual assault, intruded into a bar and a house and stabbed five people. One man, surnamed Koh, was killed.

Last Saturday, a 38-year-old day laborer went on a stabbing spree at a subway station in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, injuring eight passengers. He said during the police investigation that he committed the crime simply because he had gotten upset.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)