An attacker on rampage killed three people in Taiwan’s capital on Friday using a knife. The suspect, identified as a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen, fell to his death from a department store building in Taipei after the attack on Friday.
Taiwanese authorities said Saturday Wen had planned the assaults and set fires at two other locations earlier in the day, including the hotel he was staying at.
Chang Jung-Hsin, director-general of the National Police Agency, said the suspect began a series of attacks at 3.40 p.m. local time, first setting fire to roads and causing damage to cars and motorbikes.
Wen allegedly later threw smoke grenades near two exits of the Taipei Main metro station and used a knife to fatally wound a person, Chang added. After the attack, the suspect took an underground path to return to the hotel where he was staying, and threw more smoke grenades before using his knife to kill another person outside the Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store, the official said.
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He also fatally wounded another person on the fourth floor of the department store building before he jumped from a male bathroom on the fifth floor to his death, Chang said.
The attacks came as a shock to Taiwan, where violent crime is rare, prompting authorities to step up security at crowded spots and big events, especially ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebration that usually attract many locals and tourists to an outdoor countdown.
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