A man suspected of firing several shots into a Taoyuan police station late on Saturday and shooting one officer as he fled has been apprehended, local authorities said yesterday.
An unidentified person pulled up in a car and opened fire on the station at about 10:50pm on Saturday and then drove off, Taoyuan’s Jingfu Police Station chief Wu Ming-yen (吳明彥) said.
After police were notified, an officer surnamed Tsai (蔡) attempted to stop the suspect’s car on Yongan Road and was shot in the left shoulder, before returning fire with 12 shots as the suspect fled, Wu said.
Photo: CNA
Officers in two police cars trapped the suspect’s vehicle between their cars near the intersection of Yongan and Fuguo roads, took him into custody and seized two handguns and a submachine gun, he said.
The 43-year-old suspect, surnamed Yang (楊), had recently been investigated for illegal gun possession and had a warrant out for his arrest, a preliminary investigation found.
Authorities are still investigating how he obtained the firearms, Wu said.
The attacker fired eight shots into Jingfu Police Station, breaking the station’s glass doors and damaging its reception desk, a Taoyuan police source said.
In total, the attacker fired about 30 shots during the exchange, while police fired 50, one of which was found lodged in the back of the bulletproof vest Yang was wearing when he was apprehended at about 11:20pm, police said.
Prior to the shooting, Yang wrote on Facebook on Saturday evening that the police were harassing him and had failed to investigate multiple cases in which he was the victim.
A subsequent search of Yang’s residence uncovered “large numbers” of electric and gas airsoft guns, police said.
After interrogation, Yang is expected to be handed over to prosecutors on suspicion of attempted murder, obstruction of public officials and contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), police said.
Tsai underwent surgery at Linkou’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital to have the bullet removed and is expected to make a full recovery.
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