Authorities have detained several suspects in recent days for violent acts and making threats, stepping up efforts to prevent copycat attacks after a deadly stabbing spree in Taipei on Friday.
In New Taipei City's Sansia District (三峽), a man surnamed Lu (呂) was ordered detained today after allegedly entering a gas station armed with two kitchen knives and splashing flammable liquid on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Police said Lu began slashing at passing vehicles at about 2pm before storming into the gas station, threatening staff and splashing an unidentified flammable substance.
About 10 officers were dispatched to the scene and subdued him after he refused orders to drop the weapons.
Lu suffered a minor arm injury during the struggle and was treated at a hospital before being transferred to prosecutors, police said.
Following questioning late yesterday, prosecutors said he is suspected of attempted arson of an occupied building, threatening the public and endangering public safety.
Citing the risk of flight and repeat offenses, they sought Lu's detention, which was approved by the New Taipei District Court this morning.
In a separate case, another New Taipei City man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was detained yesterday after allegedly shouting "I have a gun" outside Sanmin Senior High School Station on the Taipei MRT in Lujhou District (蘆洲) on Saturday morning.
Police intervened to prevent panic, and Chiu allegedly assaulted an officer during questioning, injuring the officer's hand.
Prosecutors said he faces charges including threatening the public, obstructing public duties and causing bodily harm.
Authorities are also intensifying action against online threats.
Taichung prosecutors said a 43-year-old man surnamed Chang (張) was ordered detained and held incommunicado today after allegedly posting comments on social media platform Threads referencing a large-scale random killing plan on Saturday.
Investigators searched his home in Taichung's Cingshuei District (清水) and seized his mobile phone for digital analysis yesterday morning.
Authorities launched the crackdown following an indiscriminate knife attack late on Friday near Taipei Main Station and Zhongshan MRT Station that left four people dead, including the suspect, 27-year-old Chang Wen (張文).
The Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday said that about 20 online posts involving threats or calls for indiscriminate attacks had been identified nationwide as of noon yesterday.
Police and prosecutors warned that any acts threatening public safety, whether online or offline, would be dealt with swiftly.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan has activated backup communications for its northernmost territory, the remote and strategically located island of Dongyin (東引), after poor weather conditions apparently shifted the wreckage of a ship onto an undersea cable causing it to break. The vulnerability of undersea communication cables linking Taiwan with its outlying islands has been a persistent cause of concern for Taipei, whose government has on several occasions blamed Chinese ships for intentionally causing damage. Dongyin, home to about 1,500 people, sits in a strategic position at the top of the Taiwan Strait and the island has a heavy military presence. It does not have an
RSS