Police seize suspect's laptop, old cellphone after Taipei stabbing spree

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Taipei police said Saturday that they have obtained a laptop computer and a cellphone belonging to the suspect in Friday's random stabbing attack in Taipei, which left three people dead and several others injured.

The laptop and the cellphone, which appeared to be an old one not in use, were found during a search of the suspect's family home in Yangmei District, Taoyuan, early Saturday, police said.

The 27-year-old suspect Chang Wen (張文), threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station on Friday, stabbed one person who died later, then ran to the nearby Zhongshan Station, where he continued his stabbing spree, according to police.

Chang allegedly fell to his death from the sixth floor of the Eslite Spectrum Nanxi building, police said.

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Chang, an unemployed former security guard, rented a residence in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, in January, according to police. He also rented a hotel room on Nanjing West Road on Wednesday, two days before the attack on the same street, they said.

Inside Chang's residence in Zhongzheng District, investigators found materials commonly used to make Molotov cocktails, authorities said.

The search of his family home in a gated community in Taoyuan was carried out after police posted a guard in the area and took Chang's parents to Taipei for questioning, authorities said.

When Chang's parents left the Zhongshan First Police Station after questioning, they declined to speak to the media. They were escorted back to their home in Taoyuan around 1 a.m. Saturday, and police later searched the residence after obtaining a warrant, according to authorities.

After the search, police told reporters that Chang had not been living at his family home for a long time, and investigators only managed to find a few relevant items, including a laptop and an old cellphone. Chang had not been in contact with his parents for quite a while, police added.

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