New Jersey man is charged with attempted murder after flying to Florida to attack fellow gamer with a hammer: Report

A 20-year-old man from New Jersey was arrested after reportedly taking a flight to Florida to attack a gamer with a hammer after an online dispute took place in the virtual fantasy world of ArcheAge, according to Fox News Digital.

As a consequence, Edward Kang is facing a second-degree murder charge after the assault played out early Sunday in Fernandina Beach. The victim was left with severe head injuries, but none of them were life-threatening, according to Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper.

'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 that other individual.'

"I just want to let you know that this is a weird one," Leeper said during a press conference following the incident. "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.’ Well, this case makes you say all four of those."

Leeper went on to say that Kang and the victim had never met in person before the altercation. All of their communication had taken place through a video game known as ArcheAge, a multiplayer role-playing game similar to World of Warcraft.

"This video game is something where you can name characters, you can fight other characters and kill them — 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 that other individual," Leeper continued.

Leeper said his deputies were dispatched to a home in Fernandina Beach early Sunday morning to respond to a physical altercation that had broken out. He said that upon arrival, deputies "discovered a significant amount of blood in the entryway of the home and in the victim’s bedroom."

The victim's stepfather was reportedly awoken in the middle of the night by calls for help. When he got up to investigate the situation, he discovered his stepson and Kang in a physical struggle on the ground, according to the report.

Kang, dressed in all black, entered the victim's unlocked house and waited in the hallway until the victim took a bathroom break during a late-night gaming session.

The authorities revealed that just days earlier, Kang boarded a Delta flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Jacksonville, Florida. He later purchased a hammer and flashlight at a hardware store.

Kang initially told his family that he was going down to Florida to visit a friend he had met years before through an online video game.

Kang was booked into the Nassau County Jail on Sunday. Information about whether Kang has an attorney was not immediately apparent.

The investigation is still ongoing, but the charges could be upgraded in the future, according to Leeper.

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