Kindness of boss is repaid with fatal rampage

It was at church where John Choi met the man accused of shooting him.

Sang Ho Kim, 63, was out of work, drinking too much and generally lost. He had been arrested several times, including for driving while intoxicated. He had left his first wife in South Korea, married, divorced and married again. Nothing he did seemed to work out the way he wanted and, often, he blamed those around him for his failures.

Choi, 68, arrived in America from Seoul, South Korea, penniless, four decades ago. His first job was selling wigs for Jewish women in Manhattan and, because his boss learned that he was the only employee not skimming profits, he was promoted. He saved up and bought a deli, then a car wash. Eventually he and his wife, Christine, 67, started Savenergy, a business selling energy-efficient LED light fixtures.

A year ago, after they met at the Hyo Shin Bible Presbyterian Church in Queens, John Choi offered Kim a job. More than a job, it was a chance to get his life back on track.

But what started with an act of Christian kindness turned into a nasty business dispute and ended in a bloody rampage.

On Wednesday, according to the police, Kim walked into Choi's office on Long Island, pulled a gun and shot him in the head. They said he also shot and killed Yong Jae Shin, a young man who worked at the company.

On Thursday, at Nassau University Medical Center, his face bandaged where the bullet had entered and narrowly missed his brain, Choi had a simple message for Kim, whom the police were still seeking: Turn to Jesus. Heaven is not out of reach.

Alice Corey, 36, Choi's daughter, said such a gesture of forgiveness was a reflection of the life her father tried to lead, including his job offer to Kim.

"He had no friends and no job, and my parents said let's give him a second chance," she said.
David C. Lee, a close family friend who helped found an advocacy group, Korean-American Public Affairs Committee, with John Choi, said that extending a helping hand came naturally to his friend.

"Mr. Choi is a good Samaritan," he said. "He tries to help any person."

But problems arose nearly as soon as Kim started working at Savenergy. He was brusque, demanding and domineering, according to other employees. Although Kim worked in the field, he showed up daily unannounced at the Long Island headquarters.

Always dressed in a brown suit and imposing at 6 feet 2, he intimidated colleagues and demanded his commissions before deals were closed; he was also paid $37 an hour, Corey said. According to a co-worker, he once said to a colleague that if a client didn't sign a contract with the company he'd "throw a grenade" in the front window of the client's store.

Corey, who also worked at Savenergy, said she found Kim's presence so menacing that she quit and she begged her parents to fire him.

"I said, 'Dad and Mom, I love you, I know of your Christian faith and you love to help people, but you're not Jesus Christ; don't act like Jesus Christ,'" she said. "'Everyone is scared of him.'"

But Choi, who started Savenergy with his wife because they believed that environmental stewardship was part of their Christian ethic, relished giving jobs to those out of work and was known for it in his church community. Yet, about four months ago, Choi relented and began to cut back Kim's hours.

Another dispute arose, this one between Kim and Shin. Kim did work at Shin's parents' home, but they believed the work was shoddy and refused payment, according to fellow employees.
When Kim entered the office Wednesday, he said he was looking for Shin, who was talking with Choi.

Surrounded by his family in his hospital bed Thursday, Choi, who was unable to speak, wrote notes praising God and the young man who had been killed. At one point he drew a picture of the shooting, showing how Kim shot him first, then Shin.

Kim's family disputed the account provided by Choi and other employees. While not denying that Kim shot Choi and Shin, Kim's wife of three years and his sister both said they said they believed he had been ill-treated at work.

After the shooting, Kim fled in his white Honda Pilot, setting off a manhunt that has sprawled from Long Island to Dutchess County, N.Y., involving hundreds of police officers and forcing lockdowns in several normally placid suburbs. As the police searched for a man they considered armed and dangerous, they closed streets, set up roadblocks, locked down nearby schools and colleges and screened shoppers leaving a mall.

Kim's car was found late Wednesday in Putnam County, N.Y., but Thursday evening, the police were still searching for him. Law enforcement officials said the search was focused on the village of Cold Spring, where the car was found, about 60 miles north of Times Square.

The police said that the shooting was the result of a workplace dispute and identified Kim as the only suspect, releasing his photo to the media and asking the public for their assistance.

For the families and friends of the victims, they were left wondering how an act of kindness could end in bloodshed.

"Can you believe such a good man got this much tragedy?" Lee asked.

Kim's sister, a resident of Syosset, N.Y., who asked not to be named, said that last week, her brother told her that he believed that files on his computer at work had been deleted so that he would not have to be paid.

The last word she got from her brother was about two hours after the shooting, when he left a voice message. He did not express remorse but, rather, provided instructions with what to do with his body should he be found dead.

"If I die, don't put me in the land," he said, according to the sister. "Cremate me and put me in my mother's dying place."