TAIPEI, Taiwan — At least three people were killed and nine others injured after a man armed with a knife and smoke grenades launched a series of random attacks in Taiwan’s capital on Friday evening, authorities said. The suspect later fell to his death from a department store building.
Police said the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Chang Wen, was declared dead at a hospital after jumping from the sixth floor of a department store, according to the Central News Agency.
Authorities said Chang first threw smoke grenades near an underground exit of Taipei Main metro station, close to the city’s main train station, before attacking pedestrians indiscriminately with a sharp object. Witnesses reported scenes of panic as people fled the area.
Chang later moved north to a busy shopping district, where police said he threw smoke grenades and stabbed multiple victims on the first and fourth floors of the Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store, targeting primarily the neck.
Investigators said the suspect used an underground passage between the two attack sites and briefly stopped at a hotel, where he retrieved additional “lethal weapons,” described as edged weapons. He was later seen on a road near the Zhongshan metro station, close to the department store.
Police said no accomplices have been identified and that they are still investigating the motive. Authorities recovered weapons from both Chang’s rented residence in Taipei and the hotel room where he stayed for three nights near Zhongshan.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an said a 57-year-old man tried to stop the suspect at the metro station exit but was fatally wounded. National Taiwan University Hospital said the victim suffered “a penetrating injury about five centimeters in length caused by a sharp object that reached from the right lung to the left atrium.”
Another man died after being attacked near the department store, according to EBC News. Taipei Metro said one of its staff members was hospitalized after inhaling excessive smoke while responding to the incident.
A female victim told EBC News that she was struck outside the department store while waiting for her daughter for a dinner appointment.
“It did not feel like a slash — it felt more like being hit,” she said. “Then it really hurt.”
She said that when she turned around, she saw people lying on the ground and bleeding, in need of first aid.
Authorities also said Chang failed to report for reserve military training in November 2024 and was wanted for violating Taiwan’s mandatory military service law. Prosecutors said he had not reported a change in household registration, resulting in his military summons not being delivered.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- EDGARDO HERNAL
- EDGARDO HERNAL
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