A fatal shooting occurred Friday afternoon in Hsinchu County's Jhudong Township (竹東), leaving a man believed to be a key figure in an organized crime gang dead, another person critically injured, and four others wounded, according to local police.
The 51-year-old man who died, surnamed Liu (劉), suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrest after being shot and was proclaimed dead at the hospital when efforts to resuscitate him failed.
Another man was critically injured by a gunshot and four others suffered stab wounds.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
According to witnesses, a group of masked men in a white car drove to a soft drinks wholesale store where the incident took place.
They headed straight for the second floor upon arrival, after which several gunshots were heard, and the men then fled the scene in the same car.
The incident occurred at a gathering place of a local gang, and Liu was an important figure in the crime gang, according to sources.
Some local media speculated that the attack may have involved a gang dispute and may have been premeditated as the suspects were all masked, but the police have not officially identified the suspects as gang members.
At a press briefing today, however, Chiu Yu-mei (邱幼媚), the deputy chief of the Hsinchu County Police Bureau, said police "will not tolerate the brazen behavior of gang forces," suggesting that the incident may have involved criminal gang violence.
Lee Chi-hsun (李奇勳), commander of the Hsinchu County Police Bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade, said today that the incident, from the shootings and stabbing to the suspects leaving the crime scene, spanned no more than five minutes.
The local precinct has sent officers to guard the injured at the hospital and forensics investigators to the scene to collect evidence, he aid.
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