Taipei police yesterday arrested a senior high school student on suspicion of injuring a female university student when he fired a pistol.
Police said the victim was a National Taiwan University (NTU) student, surnamed Wu, who was studying by a window in her dormitory on the NTU campus on Xuzhou Rd on Tuesday at 7pm when a bullet grazed her waist.
RICOCHETING BULLET
Luckily, because of the recent low temperatures, Wu was dressed in several layers of clothing and as a result the bullet only injured her slightly, police said.
The bullet first hit a wall in the room where Wu was studying and then ricocheted and grazed her, police said.
Police later arrested a student, surnamed Chou, who was attending a night school program at Kainan High School of Commerce and Industry. The high school is located near the NTU campus.
ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE
Police said at the time of the incident Chou had been in class with his classmates at the high school.
Chou's account, as relayed by the police, was that he was showing off the gun, but was teased by others that it was just a toy. So he walked to a window and pointed it outside when the gun suddenly discharged accidentally in his hand.
Police said the bullet traveled from the fourth-floor classroom, crossed Xuzhou Rd, and hit Wu's dormitory room on the fourth floor.
FACING CHARGES
Police said Chou did not go to school following the incident, but instead reported to police yesterday morning accompanied by his family.
He handed over the gun and bullets, which he said were mailed to him by a friend, who had asked him to keep them safe, police said.
Chou will be charged with a violation of the Statute Regulating Firearms, Ammunition, Knives and Other Deadly Weapons (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) and for causing bodily harm, police said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and