TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police on Tuesday (Aug. 23) arrested a man in northern Taiwan suspected of fatally stabbing two Tainan police officers on Monday (Aug. 22).
On Monday morning, an assault on police was reported on Beishanwei 3rd Road in Tainan City's Annan District. Two police officers were killed after pursuing a suspect for a motorcycle theft.
The Third Precinct of the Tainan City Police Bureau confirmed at 4:50 a.m. on Tuesday morning that a special team had arrested a male suspect in his 40s identified as Lin Hsin-wu (林信吾), reported CNA. Police had managed to locate him around the Ho-Hsin Bus Station on Jincheng 1st Road in northern Taiwan's Hsinchu City at 4:36 a.m.
Lin placed under arrest by police. (CNA photo)
According to a preliminary investigation, Lin had escaped from Mingde Minimum-Security Prison in Tainan. After allegedly murdering the police officers, Lin washed off the blood, discarded the motorcycle, and took a taxi south to Kaohsiung City, before taking a Ho-Hsin bus to northern Taiwan at 1 a.m. on Tuesday.
When Lin got off the bus, heavily armed police officers waited until the vehicle's door had closed to ensure that he could not jump back in and take hostages, and then overpowered him. When police arrested Lin, he was found to be carrying a handgun carried by one of the slain officers and two magazines with nine bullets each. Police have taken Lin back to the Third Precinct of Tainan City Police Bureau for questioning.
At around 11 a.m. on Monday, 36 year-old Tu Ming-cheng (凃明誠) and 27 year-old Tsao Jui-chieh (曹瑞傑) found a stolen motorcycle and called for backup. However, when a police officer surnamed Chen (陳) arrived by scooter at the scene, he found the two officers lying on the ground covered in blood and immediately called for an ambulance.
Lin brought into the Third Precinct of the Tainan City Police Bureau. (CNA photo)
Judging by their wounds, the officers appeared to have been attacked by a knife or a sharp object. The two were rushed to a nearby hospital but soon succumbed to their injuries.
Police had initially listed Chen Wei-chieh (陳偉捷) as the prime suspect in the killings. However, Chen turned himself in to police proclaiming his innocence, and officers found that his fingerprints did not match those of the assailant found on the motorcycle he used to flee the scene and later abandoned.
