The Korean official report of the General Sherman incident clearly states that Thomas was killed by civilians, not by Park, and this is corroborated by Oh Mun-Hwan's 1926 article. In another account, Thomas leapt to shore carrying a Bible, which he offered to his attackers while crying, "Jesus, Jesus!" in Korean. This account was also rebutted by others who stated that Thomas was waving the official signet of Hyon-Ik Yi which had probably been taken from him when he was kidnapped. Hyon-Ik Yi was later demoted for losing an important official signet.