Taipei stabbing attack: Knifeman planned killing spree with outfit changes

A photo shows a site where a man stabbed with a knife as random killer in front of a shopping centre in Taipei City, Taiwan, on December 19. The perpetrator, a 27-year-old man, killed three people and stabbed 11 others before jumping to his death from a building. Photo / Seiichiro Takeuchi, The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP

A knifeman who stabbed three people to death in Taipei had carefully prepared for the killing spree, including by changing his outfit five times.

Three people were killed and at least six others injured in Taiwan’s capital after a 27-year-old man threw smoke grenades in a packed underground concourse before terrorising and stabbing bystanders with a long knife.

The man, identified by police as Chang Wen, later walked a kilometre away to the busy retail area of Zhongshan, stabbing people along the way.

He entered a shopping centre to continue the assault before he died after falling from the fifth floor during a police pursuit.

Police said on Saturday local time that they had struggled to find a motive behind the attack but noted that it appeared to be meticulously planned.

Two days before, the perpetrator had reportedly checked into a cheap hotel a stone’s throw from the shop where he would end the massacre. He spent the intervening period scouting locations on foot and bicycle.

In the hours before he began the knife attack, at around 3.40pm local time, he set fire to parked vehicles before returning to a small apartment he rented and trying to set fire to it too.

The suspect changed his clothes five times throughout the ensuing killing spree, according to investigators, although they did not specify where or when this took place.

After the initial round of violence at Taipei Main Station, the man eluded police to escape back to his hotel room.

He then set out with more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a second victim in the Zhongshan neighbourhood. A third man died in hospital from stab wounds, authorities said.

Police said that the smoke grenades used by the attacker, who acted alone, were purchased online.

Six of the victims of the attack are still in hospital, according to Shih Chung-liang, Taiwan’s Health Minister. Two are being treated in intensive care units but are in stable condition.

Violent crime is rare in Taiwan and the attack spurred authorities to increase security in crowded areas and upcoming seasonal celebrations.

“All important locations ... including railway stations, highways, subway stations and airports are maintaining a high level of alert and vigilance,” Cho Jung-tai, Taiwan’s Premier, told reporters.

President Lai Ching-te said Taiwanese authorities will “quickly clarify the details of the case. There will be no leniency and we will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of our citizens”.

It is the first mass killing since a stabbing spree in 2014, where a man killed four people on Taipei’s metro. He was executed for the killings in 2016.

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