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.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS