Campaign Special ( Shooting ) - Police search for one gunman

By Jimmy Chuang
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004, Page 19

A staff member of the Criminal Investigation Bureau stands behind a display of evidence collected as part of the investigation into Friday's assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annettu Lu. PHOTO: HUANG TUN-SHUO, TAIPEI TIMES

The police yesterday said that they are looking for only one gunman in connection with the shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) in Tainan City on Friday.

"We still have not identified this person but he shall be the suspect of the case, according to our investigation," said Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the commissioner of the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).

The bureau held three press conferences yesterday to update the public on the latest developments in their investigation of the shooting. It also released a drawing of the suspect, who was described as a strong man with a buzz cut hairdo and about 170cm tall.

The police now believe that the gunman fired at least two shots and that Chen was the sole intended target. They said the trajectories of the two bullets they discovered made it unlikely that the gunman had also aimed at Lu.

The police hypothesized that the gunman fired his first shot toward the front of the Jeep Wrangler in which Chen and Lu were standing. They believe the trajectory of the first bullet shifted after it went through the Jeep's windshield and hit Lu's right knee.

Chronology of political violence * 1970 -- Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) escaped assassination by pro-independence activists during a visit to New York. * 1976 -- Taiwan Provincial Governor Hsieh Tung-min (謝東閔) lost a hand and an eye in a parcel-bomb attack. Hsieh went on to become vice president and died in 2001. Pro-independence activist Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) was sentenced to life in prison in 1977 for the attack, paroled in 1990 and later elected to the Legislative Yuan. * 1980 -- The mother and seven-year-old twin daughters of dissident Lin Yi-hsiung (林義雄) were murdered in their Taipei home while he was in detention awaiting trial. The killers are still at large. * 1984 -- Three Taiwanese gangsters murder Taiwanese-American author Henry Liu at his home in Daly City, California, for writing a biography critical of then -president Chiang Ching-kuo. Three senior intelligence officials were jailed in connection with the attack. * 1985 -- First lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) was left paralyzed after being run over by a truck in Tainan County while thanking voters for their support for her husband, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who had lost theTainan County commissioner election. * 1997 -- Two gunmen broke into the home of Liu Pang-yu (劉邦友), former Taoyuan County commissioner, and bound the hands of Liu and eight others before shooting each in the head at close range. The gunmen are still at large. Source: Reuters and staff writer

Then, as the Jeep moved closer to the gunman, he fired a second shot, the one that hit Chen's stomach. The police said both shots were fired within 10m of the president's vehicle.

According to witnesses' testimony, the gunman left the scene immediately on a scooter. The witnesses also said the gunman was wearing a motorcycle helmet that hid his face and a T-shirt from Chen's campaign headquarters.

Hou said that in addition to the lead bullet discovered in Chen's clothing when he was rushed to the hospital, a copper bullet was found under Lu's seat in the Jeep.

The police said the lead bullet was an 8.1mm and the copper bullet was an 8.09mm. They said both bullets were homemade and of their poor quality.

However, while officers believed that both bullets were fired by pistols they cannot confirm whether both were fired by the same pistol.

In the meantime, authorities said No. 12, Sec. 3, Jinhua Road was the location of the shooting -- as this is where the police discovered two bullet cases on Friday.

Tainan City Police Depart-ment's Criminal Investigation Corp Chief Liao Tsung-shan (廖宗山) said that the two bullet cases found at the scene had been touched by many people so it would be difficult to identify a suspect's fingerprints.

As of press time yesterday, in addition to a NT$3 million reward offered by the Tainan City Government for the tips leading to the arrest of gunman, the National Police Administration is offering a NT$10 million reward and the pan-blue alliance had also announced it would offer a NT$10 million reward.

National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) said that he could not be sure whether the shooting was politically motivated.

But he said that he would take responsibility for the incident and ask to receive the proper punishment, which is to resign his post.

"I have told the president that I will step down after this," he said.

In other developments, Chen Tsai-fu (陳再福), a two-star general who serves as Chen Shui-bian's chief security guard, said that he heard the bullet fly by his ear when the president was hit on Friday.

"I was sitting in the front seat, next to the driver, when the incident took place," he said.

"I heard the bullet. When I turned around, the president was already bleeding," he said.

Chen Tsai-fu said that he had not suggested that the president and Lu wear their bullet-proof vests because it was so hot in Tainan on Friday.

He admitted that the security measures for the president and vice president were not tight enough.

"At the very least, they should not ride in the same car" he said. "It was our fault."