Two police squad captains yesterday received merit citations for peacefully ending a hostage-taking incident on Wednesday, in a ceremony presided over by Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) and National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chen Chia-chin (陳家欽).
The incident started at 5:50pm on Wednesday, when two men, armed with rifles and handguns, charged into a used vehicle shop in Taoyuan’s Sanmin Road.
When police arrived at the scene, they found that nine people inside the shop had been taken hostage.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
Witnesses said they heard at least two shots.
Reinforcements arrived later, accompanied by negotiators to deal with the hostage-takers.
The negotiators were able to persuade the two gunmen to release some of the hostages that night.
All hostages were freed after a five-hour ordeal, as the two suspects, both surnamed Lin (林), surrendered at close to 11pm.
Taoyuan Police Department Dasi Precinct Deputy Police Chief Wu Ching-hu (吳清湖) said the two gunmen were wanted by the authorities, with both having past criminal convictions.
A preliminary investigation found that the two suspects were embroiled in financial disputes and were planning an armed robbery.
“The negotiators did their job well, as they persuaded the gunmen to first release two women from the shop at about 7pm, then three male hostages at about 10:30pm. They talked them into releasing the remaining four male hostages just before 11pm,” Wu said.
None of the hostages were hurt, and the two suspects gave up their weapons — three pistols, one M4A1 carbine assault rifle and one pellet shotgun, Wu said.
A search of the premises revealed several “coffee pouches” and powders, which are believed to be illegal narcotics, but lab tests would need to confirm that.
The two police negotiators were Wang Chiang-sheng (王強生), squad captain of the precinct’s criminal investigation unit, and Hung Chun-teh (洪俊德), squad captain of the First Brigade of Taoyuan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau.
“The two suspects were highly dangerous criminals and they possessed great firepower,” Chen said. “The squad captains were very brave, risking their lives to enter the place to talk to the suspects. They have done outstanding work and the incident finished without any serious injuries or loss of lives.”
Chen arrived at the scene from Taipei to supervise the situation and police deployment around the area.
He said it was also important to contact the family members of the two suspects and bring them to the scene to talk to the gunmen by phone and help persuade them to surrender.
Chen said he had summoned the NPA’s Special Operation Brigade’s First Corps to the area for backup and to ensure public safety.
Media reports said that at one time, there were more than 100 police officers at the scene.
Cheng said the two police negotiators deserves special citation, because the two suspects had fired shots several times during the ordeal and appeared to be emotionally unstable.
The situation required cool heads to prevail and to calm the suspects, the mayor said, praising the two negotiators.
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