Police said yesterday that new evidence suggests professional killers were behind the shooting Saturday of KMT Taipei City Councilor Chen Chin-chi (陳進棋).
Police believe the killers are very familiar with the Peitou and Shihlin areas, where the shooting took place, and may be residents there.
Early yesterday morning, police discovered the stolen scooter which the suspects left at a public motorcycle parking space only 700m from the crime scene.
Officers discovered one fingerprint and a palm print and two footprints on the scooter.
A senior officer with the Shihlin precinct's Criminal Investigation Section who wished to remain anonymous told the Taipei Times that the circumstances of the crime are unusual.
"Usually, suspects would abandon the transportation they used during the crime as soon as possible. However, these two guys spent time parking the scooter at a public parking space along with many other scooters and motorcycles. It seems to me that they did not panic at all," he said.
"Also, the gunman decided to shoot Chen at a public location with crowds of people, who could have been a barrier to his escape. In addition, according to witnesses, after he opened fire, he added a final shot to make sure Chen was dead rather than immediately running away," the officer said.
"All of these clues imply that this was the work of professionals. It was a very well-organized murder. And since this was done by professionals, there must be a mastermind behind it, which is also something we're trying to figure out," he added.
According to the police investigation, Chen had been involved in several disputes between local gangs who had fought over windfall profits from certain construction projects in Peitou and Shihlin since last year.
"We're also interviewing anyone who had any recent disputes with Chen. We hope we can find something," he said.
Police said the little time it took the suspects to escape shows the killers may have researched the scene of the crime.
Regarding the two suspects' whereabouts, police said they believe the suspects may have fled to Taipei City's Neihu area or Taipei County's Chinshan Township to wait for an opportunity to leave the country.
"If they decided to leave the country, they would have driven through Yangmingshan National Park, arrived at Chinshan and tried to leave by fishing boat. If they decided to hide in the mountains, they would have driven to Neihu or just stayed in Yangmingshan National Park. Both scenarios look quite possible and practical to me," the officer said.
In the meantime, the National Police Administration has asked for help from the National Coast Guard Administration to tighten security along the seashore, especially in northern Taiwan.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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