Three people have been arrested after two separate shooting incidents in Taipei. A woman was hit in the face by an air gun pellet on Thursday and a man fired four bullets at a lottery shop yesterday.
Police yesterday announced that they apprehended two suspects in relation to Thursday’s shooting and, as part of the investigation, took them to the scene to simulate their roles in the action.
In Thursday’s incident, the victim was a 36-year-old woman surnamed Wu (吳), a Chinese Culture University staff member, who was riding her scooter along Taipei’s Chongqing S Road Sec 3, heading toward Zhongzheng Bridge and New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和), as she returned home in the early morning.
According to Wu Tien-fa (吳添發), head of the criminal investigation section of Taipei Police Department’s Zhongzheng Second Precinct, the victim was found bleeding after being shot in the face, with the bullet having shattered most of her teeth and torn through her tongue. Paramedics found a pellet lodged inside her mouth.
Police immediately formed an investigation taskforce and pinpointed two suspects based on gathered evidence and surveillance camera footage.
Less than 16 hours later, Wu Tien-fa said the police had been issued search warrants and had brought in the two suspects — 42-year-old Lee Chih-hao (李志浩), a scooter shop owner, and his 22-year-old shop assistant — for questioning.
The investigation showed that Lee allegedly owned several air rifles and had been test firing one of them in the direction of Zhongzheng Bridge toward Chongqing S Road, where his store is located.
Police said video evidence showed that Lee and his assistant went along the road to pick up the spent pellets, while investigators also found 11 pellet holes in one of the bridge’s concrete support pillars.
Chinese Culture University officials condemned the random shooting and pointed to a worsening of safety conditions in Taipei.
“It was unbelievable that one of our staff would receive such an injury. This shows the serious deterioration of public safety in Taipei,” a Chinese Culture University statement said yesterday.
“We ask more people to do something about this situation,” it added.
Investigators recovered an air rifle and pellets and said that Lee, the main suspect, had a criminal record with charges of assault and blackmail in connection with debt collecting activities and other disputes.
The case has been transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, where they plan to charge the suspects with attempted murder and breaching the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
In the other firearm case, shots were yesterday morning fired at a shop selling government-regulated lottery tickets on Taipei’s Songshan Road, with four spent bullets being recovered at the scene.
Police yesterday afternoon apprehended a suspect surnamed Chu (朱), who allegedly had money disputes with the lottery shop owner, surnamed Lee (李).
Police said they found a modified handgun, which was allegedly used in the shooting, and bullets in Chu’s backpack when they arrested him.
According to information provided by Lee, he and Chu used to be friends and had jointly invested in opening a lottery shop in New Taipei City a few years ago, but they became embroiled in disputes and dropped their partnership, with Lee claiming that Chu owed him NT$7 million (US$233,217).
Unable to collect the money, Lee said he filed a lawsuit against Chu in March this year.
The shooting was likely Chu’s way of warning Lee of their ongoing financial dispute.
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