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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS