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Murder suspect gives up after dramatic tea party

The man believed responsible for shooting to death an innocent passerby while fleeing police on Thursday night surrendered to police late Monday night, after hours of negotiations with a police officer.

The lead investigator in the case, Tainan County police officer Chang Jung-hsing (張榮興), said yesterday that Shih Kuo-ching (石國慶) surrendered to authorities after making a telephone call to his mother in which he said he had no way to hide because none of his friends would shelter him.

The tragic crime unfolded on Thursday when two Tainan County police officers, Lin You-chung (林裕崇) and Lia Wen-ching (賴文卿), chased a speeding vehicle with two passengers that refused to pull over at a routine police checkpoint.

The chase ended in Liouchia (六甲) when the suspects' car rammed into an exit ramp median.

When the police approached the vehicle with weapons drawn, one of its occupants wrested away an officer's sidearm and fired a shot, barely missing the policeman.

With a vehicle that could no longer be driven, the suspects then attempted to hijack a passing car.

An unfortunate driver passing by, Hsiao Min-hsiang (蕭名享), attempted to speed away from the scene, but the suspect with the police pistol fired, striking Hsiao in the left shoulder through the window. Hsiao's car swerved off the road and crashed into a ditch next to the highway.

Hsiao was found dead in his vehicle when authorities arrived.

Meanwhile, the suspects were able to flee after stopping a woman, identified only by her surname, Lee, by threatening her with the pistol, whereupon she surrendered her vehicle.

Chang said that the suspect told his mother he was planning to commit suicide or die in a gun battle with police.

Chang also said Shih's mother urged him to surrender to the police and contacted Shih's cousin, who is a Tainan County police officer.

The police officer, who was not named, immediately reported the matter to Chang, and after negotiations the suspect agreed to meet the investigator on Monday night.

Chang said he met Shih and his mother at a restaurant near Tainan Railway Station at 8pm.

During the meeting, Chang added, he urged Shih to voluntarily turn himself in, but Shih's emotional state was very unstable.

Rather than arresting Shih outright, Chang told the suspect that it was impossible to evade capture.

Chang said that at 11pm, Shih agreed to go to the police station, and handed over the stolen police pistol as well as another illegal pistol to the police.

Shih told Chang that he refused to stop at the police checkpoint on the highway because he was already on the wanted list for fleeing from the scene of a car accident.
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