The National Police Agency (NPA) yesterday instructed police nationwide to improve security measures and asked all officers to pay attention to their surroundings, after a man ran into a highway patrolman and then smashed his stolen pickup truck into a police station in Keelung late on Thursday, leaving two people dead and one injured.
The driver, a 34-year-old man surnamed Chien (簡), was later killed when he was hit by a train at a railway crossing in Keelung after fleeing the scene at the police station.
New Taipei City police said that Chien presumably stole a pickup truck at about 9pm on Thursday at Aodi Fishing Harbor (澳底漁港) in New Taipei City, and was heading toward Keelung on Provincial Highway No. 62 when he crashed into a heavy motorcycle being driven by a highway patrolman surnamed Liu (劉).
Photo copied by Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
The collision sent Liu down a slope to the side of the expressway, leaving him seriously injured, police said.
Liu was sent to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Keelung, but was later pronounced dead, police said.
Chien later rammed the pickup truck into the Badu Police Station in Keelung’s Nuannuan District (暖暖) at about 10pm, which resulted in the death of a 24-year-old male police officer, Su Yu-hung (蘇昱鴻), and injured a 24-year-old female officer surnamed Liao (廖), Keelung police said.
Su was in a critical condition when he was rushed to the hospital and was later pronounced dead, while Liao sustained abrasions that were not considered serious, Keelung police said.
After crashing the pickup truck into the police station, Chien abandoned the truck and fled, but was later killed when he was hit by a train at a train crossing in Nuannuan.
Police did not say if they suspected Chien took his own life.
Upon learning of the incident, NPA Director-General Huang Ming-chao (黃明昭) went to the hospital and asked the Keelung Police Bureau to do all it could to help Su’s family with funeral arrangements, the agency said in a statement early yesterday.
The agency would also provide Su’s family with financial support in the wake of his death, Huang said.
Chien “committed a heinous crime” that was unforgivable, Huang said.
According to the preliminary findings of an investigation, the police found that Chien had a history of taking drugs, hallucinations and aggressive behavior, but his motivation for the rampage was unclear, Huang said.
The NPA said it has notified police authorities nationwide to strengthen security measures and asked all police on duty to pay attention to their surroundings at all times.
It has also asked the Keelung Police Bureau to thoroughly investigate the case and find out Chien’s motivation as soon as possible.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition