Knife-wielder injures three in random attack

Three people, two women and a man, were injured when a man began randomly attacking people with a kitchen knife yesterday morning, police said.

Police said that the suspect Lu Chien-kuang (陸建光), who suffers from a psychological disorder and lives in a high-rise residential building on Roosevelt Road (羅斯福路) in southern Taipei, began his attacks around 8am.

Two women, surnamed Liang and Wang, suffered cuts on their back and arms respectively. Liang said that Lu entered the elevator on the 17th floor and began to hack at her and Wang, who were already inside. The two screamed and ran out of the elevator right away.

After receiving three cuts, Liang, 49, ran down the stairs to the first floor to cry for help. "I don't know how I had strength to run," Liang said.

The other female victim, Wang, 48, tried to protect herself by grabbing a nearby bicycle put in the stairwell. She then hurried into an unlocked apartment on the 17th floor after being cut on her left arm.

A Japanese man, Takehiro Hattori (服部武宏), 30, who only moved into the building recently, was also attacked as he left for work from his apartment on the 12th floor. As the elevator stopped on the 12th floor, Lu saw Hattori waiting outside.

"He said `hello' to me with a friendly smile after the door of the elevator opened. Then his blood-stained knife came right at me," Hattori said.

Hattori suffered the most serious wounds, being hit on the head and back and having two fingers almost cut off when he tried to resist the attacker.

The three victims were rushed to National Taiwan University Hospital in stable condition.

The suspect was arrested but did not speak when he was questioned at the police station. He was later sent to the hospital to have an examination to determine the state of his mental health.

After interviewing residents of the building, police found that Lu, who recently moved back home from overseas to live with his father -- who reportedly suffers from dementia -- has little contact with his neighbors.

Last month, the father and son began the habit of throwing cans and bottles out of the window of their 17th floor apartment, drawing complaints from their neighbors.

According to the building's management committee, the suspect was greatly displeased when the committee asked that he be hospitalized for mental treatment. After that, Lu frequently damaged equipment in the building and even once grabbed a knife to attack the secretary-general of the committee.

He was sent to NTU Hospital for compulsory treatment after the committee reported to the police on May 1. Lu was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.

One female resident of the building, surnamed Shen, angrily said, "Lu is like a ticking time bomb that may go off at any time!"