Taichung City Police Department Commissioner Hu Mu-yuan (胡木源) yesterday said four police officers were punished for failing to take action while at a crime scene.
“They must be punished for misbehaving as law enforcement officers,” Hu said.
Hu said the officers were at the office of Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) on Friday when he was shot dead by an unidentified gunman.
The officers were allegedly connected to gang members and ignored the crime that took place in their presence, he said.
Hu said the officers were Traffic Chief Lin Chi-you (林啟右), Criminal Investigation Corps Third Division lieutenants Lin Wen-wu (林文武) and Shih Chang-hsing (石長興), and Sergeant Tai Chih-hung (戴志宏).
Hu said Lin Chi-yu would be removed from his administrative position. Lin Wen-wu, who will be retiring today, received a demerit.
Shih and Tai, meanwhile, only received citations, as they were following orders from their superiors.
Hu said the officers told investigators they went to Weng's office for a cup of tea at the invitation of a retired officer, but did not realize that Weng was there as well.
A gunman entered Weng's office on Da-dun 10th Street when Weng walked into the office at 4:20pm. Hu said a total of 16 shots were fired, with seven bullets hitting Weng.
Lai Jung-chen (賴榮振), a friend of Weng, was also wounded and remained in critical condition at press time.
Hu said a probe showed that Lin Chi-you and Lin Wen-wu did not see what happened as they were hiding under a coffee table during the shooting.
The four officers were not harmed, Hu said, adding that the gunman hopped into a vehicle and took off after firing the shots, Hu said.
A surveillance camera captured the gunman's face and the license plate of his vehicle, Hu said, adding that the picture of the suspect was distributed to the public.
Police confirmed the license plate was a stolen one.
The National Police Agency has dispatched 40 special force officers to Taichung following reports of a series of violent crimes.
Hu said he asked for help from the central government after consecutive shootings and kidnappings cases in recent weeks.
“As we don't have enough manpower at the moment, we can definitely use some help,” he said.
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