A New Jersey man will spend the next four years in prison after flying to Florida to attack a fellow gamer with a hammer over an online dispute. Edward Kang pleaded guilty to armed burglary with assault or battery for the 2024 incident, State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced.
Under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement, Circuit Judge Meredith Charbula sentenced Kang to four years in Florida State Prison. Following his release, Kang will serve 10 years of probation under special conditions.
The violent confrontation stemmed entirely from interactions in a video game chatroom. Though Kang and the victim had never met in person, Kang left his New Jersey home on June 20, 2024, and took a flight to Jacksonville with the intent to assault the victim. After arriving, Kang booked a hotel room in nearby Nassau County to prepare.
Three days later, on June 23, Kang broke into the victim’s home in the middle of the night while armed with a hammer. The victim, who was awake playing an online game, left his computer to use the bathroom. Kang confronted him there and began striking him with the weapon.
The victim fought back against his attacker, waking up his stepfather. The stepfather intervened and helped restrain Kang on the floor until police officers arrived at the scene. While being held down, Kang told the victim’s stepfather that the victim was a “bad person online.”
The victim was transported to a local hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.
The investigation was conducted by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Karl Green.
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