Police yesterday detained a former inmate, surnamed Chiu (邱), who allegedly stabbed three people, including two elementary-school children.
The Miaoli City Police Department said that a local precinct received a report at 3:46pm that a man was attacking civilians with a knife near a convenience store close to Jhongjheng Road.
A group of elementary-school children was near the convenience store at the time, and a woman got their attention and helped them leave the area, footage from a nearby surveillance camera showed.
Photo: Peng Chien-li, Taipei Times
However, several children did not move fast enough, police said.
One of the two 11-year-old school girls, surnamed Ting (丁), was stabbed in her chest, while the other girl, surnamed Hsu (徐), had a small cut on her chest and lacerations on her right elbow, police said.
A man, surnamed Lin (林), was stabbed in the abdomen and back, and as of press time, was still being treated at a hospital, police added.
Ministry of Health and Welfare Hospital Miaoli branch president Hsu Kuo-fang (徐國芳) said Ting would be transferred to the China Medical University Hospital Hsinchu branch once her condition stabilizes.
Police said Chiu resisted attempts to arrest him at his home by tying a knife to his hand, but was subdued with a stun gun and brought in for questioning at 4:35pm.
Chiu was released from prison in March, having served eight years for a stabbing incident on Dec. 26, 2015, police said.
He has mental health problems and should have been treated while he was serving time, Miaoli County Commissioner Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) said after visiting the injured at the hospital.
Chiu should not have been released if he was liable to suffer a relapse and pose a threat to society, Chung said.
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