Presidential Office attack lead pays off

A man suspected of firing 13 flares into the sky in front of the Presidential Office building on Thursday evening was detained on charges of endangering public safety, police said yesterday.

The incident has aroused security concerns over the presidential guards' failure to stop or pursue the shooter in time.

"The suspect is 44-year-old Chang Han-ming (張漢明), who works as a security guard at an upscale residential building near Taipei 101," Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), deputy chief of the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng First Police District, told the media yesterday.

The man was arrested by police on Friday, and Taipei prosecutors yesterday afternoon applied with the Taipei District Court to detain Chang.

"Chang's behavior endangered public safety, and there's a risk he might do it again, so Taipei prosecutors asked the court that he be kept in custody," said Lin Pang-liang (林邦樑), spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.

Although he did not injure any one, Lin said Chang would be charged with violation of the Firearms, Explosives and Weapons Control Act and of endangering public safety.

Fang that Chang admitted to the shooting when a number of police officers tracked him down at his place of work yesterday.

Fang that Chang told police he committed the crime because he was dissatisfied with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his aide's alleged involvement in a series of scandals.

The shooting incident took place on Thursday evening, Fang said. At 8:32pm, Chang, riding on a scooter, stopped some 20m to 30m in front of the Presidential Office's main gate located at the intersection of Ketagelan Boulevard and Chongqing South Road, pulled a gun out of a bag, and fired 13 flares into the air.

Chang drove off on his scooter before the presidential guards had time to stop him. The guards caught sight of part of his license plate number.

The National Security Bureau and Zhongzheng First Police District immediately formed a task force, which swiftly identified and tracked down Chang using his plate number, Fang said.

Police him on Friday after monitoring his residence and workplace.

According to the police, Chang said he had voted twice for Chen, but was now very dissatisfied with the president's performance.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," Chang was quoted as saying by the police.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office yesterday issued a statement thanking the police for their quick arrest of the suspect and said it would work more closely with the police in the future to beef up security measures for the nation's leaders.

Additional reporting by Chang Yun-ping