Police yesterday said that a security camera had captured the face of the gunman who allegedly murdered Taipei County Councilor Wu Shan-jeou (
"He [the gunman] made a phone call at a phone booth before he committed the crime. When he made that phone call, he did not wear the motorcycle helmet and the security camera captured his face clearly, so we are quite confident that he will be identified soon," said Wang Yu-Kang (王毓綱), deputy commissioner of the Taipei County Police Department.
Wu was gunned down in his Sindian office around noon on Wednesday. He was rushed to hospital but was officially pronounced dead at 1:08pm on the same day.
Police said scientists had conducted a DNA test using saliva they collected from the public phone the gunman had used before he shot Wu.
Wang said forensic scientists had discovered two female DNA samples and one male DNA sample during the analysis. Unfortunately, there was not enough of the male saliva for scientists to perform a complete DNA match-up.
Meanwhile, the police have been searching for the scooter that the gunman rode before and after the crime. Wang said that less than 100 scooters matched the details available as of press time yesterday.
"I think we can get some useful information from this clue," he said. "The scooter he rode is a rare model. It should not be difficult for us to figure out who owns the scooter."
An autopsy was performed on Wu at 8:30am yesterday.
Coroners and prosecutors confirmed that Wu was shot four times. Three of the bullets went through his body, while one remained inside his stomach.
Coroner Fang Chung-min (方中民) removed the bullet that remained inside Wu and this also provided the police with some useful information.
"He [Wu] died of the shot that passed through his left lung," said Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村), a spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office. "The gunman used `hollow point bullets' which create open wounds so that the victim would have bled to death anyway."
Lin said that only a certain number of people would be "professional" enough to obtain and use this kind of bullet, so it should also help police track the gunman down.
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