The court hearing of Taiwanese student Sun An-tso (孫安佐), who is accused of threatening a shooting at Bonner and Prendergast Catholic High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, has been postponed.
Originally set for Wednesday next week, the hearing has been moved to April 25, the Web site of the Delaware County District Court in Pennsylvania showed.
Sun’s lawyer Robert Keller yesterday said he visited Sun for about an hour, but his parents were not present at the visit.
Sun has been held in custody at the Delaware County Jail since his arrest on March 26.
Keller was yesterday to hold a news conference on the developments in Sun’s case, but his parents, Sun Peng (孫鵬) and Di Ying (狄鶯), were not expected to attend.
Meanwhile, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that Sun An-tso’s lawyers might accept a plea bargain in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Taipei-based lawyer James Hou (侯慶辰) was cited as saying that accepting a plea bargain deal might the best angle for Sun An-tso, as the evidence collected, including ammunition and weaponry found in his bedroom, is not in his favor.
Acting on a tip-off by one of his classmates, police searched Sun An-tso’s bedroom, where they found suspicious items, including a ballistic vest, a crossbow with scope and flashlight, 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition, a military ski mask, an ammunition clip loader, a garrote and other equipment.
They later discovered that he had also built a 9mm handgun with parts bought online and had more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition for various firearms.
Police also discovered that Sun An-tso had searched the Internet for information on how to buy an AK-47 assault rifle or an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
Sun An-tso stands accused of issuing terrorist threats.
He has told police that he was only joking.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is
NEW DESTINATIONS: Marketing campaigns to attract foreign travelers have to change from the usual promotions about Alishan and Taroko Gorge, the transport minister said The number of international tourists visiting Taiwan is estimated to top 8 million by the end of this year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said yesterday, adding that the ministry has not changed its goal of attracting 10 million foreign travelers this year. Chen made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee to brief lawmakers about the ministry’s plan to boost foreign visitor arrivals. Last month, Chen told the committee that the nation might attract only 7.5 million tourists from overseas this year and that when the ministry sets next year’s goal, it would not include