One man was killed and another critically injured yesterday in a suspected gang-related shooting at a temple charity event in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城).
A 20-year-old male suspect named Chen Chih-lun (陳致綸) turned himself in at the Tucheng Police Precinct yesterday afternoon, police said.
Authorities said six people were sent to a local hospital.
Photo: CNA
Shun Tien Fu Temple (巡天府) temple master Lin Li-chang (林立昌), 48, and temple volunteer Lai Kuo-ho (賴國和), 60, were reportedly in a critical condition.
Lin was to undergo emergency surgery last night.
Lai died of his injuries at hospital.
Lin is suspected to have been the intended target of the attack.
The shooter, dressed in an orange shirt, walked toward Lin, who at the time was handing out sacks of rice to people gathered for a monthly charity event at the temple, witnesses said.
The man then allegedly took out a gun and fired six shots at Lin’s head and body, they said.
The temple master is the nephew of former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lin Kuo-chang (林國慶), who was at the event.
“It was an execution-style shooting,” Lin Kuo-chang said. “We saw the man walk up to Li-chang, take out the gun and shoot. All we heard was ‘bang, bang, bang.’ It happened so fast, nobody could react. I was just a few steps away from them. If I were any closer, I might have been one of the victims.”
Others injured during the incident are thought to have been hit by stray bullets, as some witnesses tried to catch the gunman as he ran away, police said.
The injured include an elderly couple who were waiting to receive a sack of rice and others who were attending the event.
The shooting was allegedly a revenge attack for the shooting death in June of a person surnamed Huang (黃), who was shot after alleged gangs and associated businesses got into a financial dispute over a real-estate development project in Tucheng.
Lin Li-chang is also allegedly head of the Tucheng branch of the Heavenly Way Gang (天道盟).
Witnesses said they heard Chen yelling: “I have taken revenge for Huang” when he ran away.
Investigators were still questioning Chen as of press time last night and no details were released regarding what information he had provided.
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