MRT attacker kills 4 people, injures 22
By Stacy Hsu /
Staff writer, with CAN
A 21-year-old student allegedly killed four
people and injured 22 yesterday in a random killing spree on a train of the Taipei Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT) system’s Bannan Line.
The four victims were a 47-year-old woman,
a 62-year-old woman and two men aged 20 and 30. They had reportedly lost all
vital signs before they were rushed to the New
Taipei City
Hospital ’s Banciao Branch, the Taipei Hospital
and the Far Eastern Memorial
Hospital
It was the first deadly attack on an MRT
train since the Taipei
The suspect, who has been identified as
Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) from
Greater Taichung’s Tunghai University, allegedly started attacking passengers around him
with a 30cm -long
fruit knife while the train was traveling between the Longshan Temple Station
and the Jiangzicui Station at approximately 4:26pm.
He was apprehended by security guards, police officers
and other passengers shortly after the train stopped at the Jiangzicui Station,
from where he was taken to the Jiangzicui police station for questioning.
According to New Taipei City Police
Department Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩), Cheng boarded
an MRT train heading to the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center at the Jiangzicui
Station earlier in the afternoon and alighted at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station.
He subsequently hopped on the ill-fated train heading to the Banciao
Station before carrying out the killing spree, Chen added.
“The suspect
told us that he had since elementary school wanted to ‘do something big’ and
that he had shared the idea with some of his high-school and college classmates,”
Chen said.
Chen said Cheng originally planned to execute the idea after he
graduated from university, but decided to move it forward to yesterday after
giving it some thought last week.
“He bought two
fruit knives of different sizes from a supermarket before he boarded the
trains… His blood-alcohol
content registered 0.04m g/L
and he has no medical records of mental illness,” Chen said.
“He showed no
signs of remorse
during questioning,” Chen added.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that for the next two
weeks, the city government planned to deploy 80 special police officers to MRT stations
to conduct routine patrols,
to assist the 143 MRT police officers.
“Our priority
is to restore order and security at MRT stations to make sure that our
passengers do not feel afraid when taking the metro,” Hau said.
New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said the city government had
instructed all available police officers to patrol the areas surrounding the
city’s 34 MRT
stations shortly after the incident, in an effort to tighten security.
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (台北捷運公司) general manager Tan
Gwa-guang (譚國光) said the
company would give NT$4 million (US$132,000) in compensation to the families of the victims and
would take care of all medical expenses incurred by the injured passengers.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/05/22 /2003590929
Structure of the lead :
WHO - A 21-year-old student, Cheng Chieh (鄭捷)
WHEN - Yesterday
WHAT - Cheng Chieh killed four people and injured 22 in a random killing spree.
WHY - not given
WHERE - On a train of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system’s Bannan Line.
HOW - Attacking passengers around him with a 30cm -long fruit knife
Keywords :
1. spree (n.) 嬉戲 ；歡鬧
2. allegedly (adv.) 據宣稱 ；據傳說
3. apprehend (v.) 逮捕
4. board (v.) 上 (船、車、飛機等)
5. alight (v.) (從車輛)下來
6. subsequently (adv.) 其後，隨後，接著
7. ill-fated (a.) 惡運的；不幸的
8. execute (v.) 實施；執行
9. blood-alcohol content 血液酒精含量
10. remorse (v.) 痛悔；自責
11. deploy (v.) 使展開；使疏開
12. patrol (n.) 巡邏，偵察
13. metro (n.) 地下鐵道
14. tighten (v.) 使變緊，使繃緊
15. compensation (n.) 補償，彌補；賠償；賠償金；補償金
