Taipei police said they had begun an investigation into a gang-related shooting after a hostage situation on Wednesday night that left the alleged shooter dead and four people injured.
Police had identified the suspect in the shooting in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) as Chiu Kuo-lung (邱國隆), an alleged member of the Wan Guo gang, Wanhua Precinct Police Chief Hsieh Tsung-hung (謝宗宏) told a news conference.
Chiu, 54, took his own life at the end of a shooting spree, Hsieh said.
Photo: CNA
Police said the incident began at 7:26pm, when Chiu arrived at a residence on Hankou Street for a meeting with alleged Wan Guo leader Hung Ching-cheng (洪清正) and another gang member.
After an unspecified “disagreement,” Chiu shot the two others, hitting one nine times — once in the back, once in the right arm and seven times in the legs — and the second man in the back and all four limbs, police said.
Chiu then fled to the nearby Bangka Qingshan Temple on Guiyang Street, where he sought to speak with the temple’s vice chairperson, surnamed Hsu (許), Hsieh said.
However, Hsu refused to help him, and Chiu allegedly shot him three times and then took four people hostage — Hsu’s wife, son and daughter, and an unidentified friend of the family — at a storefront across from the temple, police said.
After arriving at the scene at 7:50pm, police engaged in a standoff with Chiu, during which one officer, attending to the injured temple official, was shot in the thigh, police said.
At 8:50pm, Chiu gradually began releasing the hostages, they said.
Hsu’s daughter — who was released first and exited the storefront holding a white flag — told police that Chiu was planning to kill himself, police said.
After releasing all four hostages, Chiu walked out of the building and shot himself in the head, police said.
He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead at 10:09pm, they added.
Late on Wednesday, Hsieh said initial evidence suggested the incident stemmed from a dispute between gangs.
Hsieh said police would begin interrogating witnesses to determine Chiu’s motives and find out how he had obtained a gun.
Hours after the hostage situation, Chinese-language media reported that Chiu’s Facebook account at 7pm posted a photograph of him with his son and daughter.
The post said that Chiu’s “time is up,” and that his children should take care of themselves and their mother.
“Daddy will always love both of you. Grow up to be good people, not like your dad,” the post said.
At about 8pm, the account responded to comments under the post and explained Chiu’s motives for the shootings.
One of the comments said that more than a year ago, Chiu pulled a gun on an unspecified individual who had been bullying a friend of his.
Since the incident in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area, the person had been harassing Chiu in a constant “game of cat and mouse,” the comment said.
“I’ve failed my kids, failed society. I have no choice,” the comment added. “When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”
Police said they believed Chiu’s post referred to a confrontation last year between him and a member of the He Gou Tou gang, who was not one of those injured in Wednesday’s shootings.
Meanwhile, the shooting of Hung and the temple official appeared to stem from an incident earlier this year in which Chiu allegedly got into a fistfight, and he later blamed the two men, who had tried to mediate the fight, for not siding with him, police said.
As of yesterday morning, all four people injured in the incident were in stable condition and receiving treatment at hospitals in Taipei.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS