Kuo Yen-chun (郭彥君), the suspect in the Taipei MRT knife attack on Monday evening that injured four people, was detained yesterday after being charged with attempted murder and intentional injury.
Kuo was questioned at the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office in Taipei yesterday morning, then taken to the Shilin District Court, where the presiding judge upheld the prosecutors’ request for detention, saying the suspect has no permanent residence and that detention was necessary to prevent him from escaping justice.
Police said the 27-year-old suspect told them: “I wanted to kill someone,” and that he had made a mistake, but “it was all too late.”
Photo: CNA
Datong District (大同) Deputy Chief of Police Chang Chin-an (張金安) alleged that Kuo headed to the Zhongshan MRT Station carrying a kitchen knife on Monday evening and slashed four people as he walked down the escalator of the No. 4 exit, creating panic as people ran away in fear.
Kuo was then disarmed and apprehended by security guards, with the help of several MRT passengers.
Chang said the four victims, three women and one man, were taken to the nearby Mackay Memorial Hospital for treatment. They all suffered lacerations that were not life-threatening.
Photo: CNA
During questioning by investigators, Kuo was quoted as telling the police that he had carried out the attack because he had been unemployed for a long time and was “in a bad mood.”
Police officials said Kuo had been convicted of illegal drug use in May.
Local media reported that after his parents divorced, Kuo went to live in Japan with his mother, who subsequently married a Japanese man. After his mother died of cancer, Kuo returned to Taiwan to live in Taipei with his aunt.
Kuo was quoted by police as saying that he left home last week after having a quarrel with his aunt; since then, he had been sleeping in a public park near Hejiang Street (合江街).
In response to the MRT attacks, the National Police Agency (NPA) demanded that police in Taipei and New Taipei City increase security at public entertainment venues and university campuses to try to prevent future incidents.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday called for a “social movement” of caring for others as a means of protecting oneself.
“The opposite of love is indifference, not hatred — if you care for others, you’re also protecting yourself,” Ko said, adding that the increase in “random” stabbings was “absolutely” a problem that needs to be addressed.
While saying Monday’s incident had been handled well, Ko said that more has to be done to prevent similar incidents, adding that the city government had discovered a “hole” in the social safety net, and that the question of how to find and counsel socially isolated people was important to address.
While the city government has systems in place for tracking alcoholics, potential suicides and drug addicts, there is no system in place to keep track of the socially isolated, he said.
Ko called for the establishment of a screening system for psychological problems.
He added that to prevent inspiring further “copy-cat” attacks, the city government would not provide security camera footage of attacks to the media.
The city government has ruled out installing X-ray machines and other security equipment on the MRT system because of the high costs doing so would entail, he said.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from