Taipei mass stabber began purchasing supplies for attack in 2024: Police

Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) The man who killed three people in a stabbing rampage in Taipei on Friday began purchasing supplies used in the attack as early as April 2024, Taipei Police said Sunday.

On Friday, 27-year-old Chang Wen (張文) threw smoke bombs and stabbed bystanders inside MRT Taipei Main Station and outside the Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near MRT Zhongshan Station.

The incident resulted in four deaths, including Chang, who fell to his death from the six-story department store's roof while being pursued by police.

At a news conference Sunday, Lu Chun-hung (盧俊宏), head of the Taipei Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division, said investigators believe Chang had meticulously planned the attack, and began buying supplies for it more than a year and a half ago.

In April 2024, he said, Chang began purchasing items with possible offensive or defensive properties, including tactical gloves, a gas mask, a protective shield and industrial alcohol.

In mid-January 2025, Chang purchased 24 Chinese-made smoke bombs priced at around NT$2,000 (US$63.43) each on Shopee and another e-commerce platform, claiming they were for use in an airsoft survival game, Lu said.

Of those 24 smoke bombs, 17 of them were thrown by Chang in MRT Taipei Main Station [near the M7 exit], while four were burned and destroyed inside a bag he was carrying at the station, according to Lu.

Of the other three smoke bombs, two were thrown by Chang on Nanjing West Road in front of the Eslite department store, while one thrown at the store's entrance did not go off, Lu said.

Beginning in November, Chang also bought items including gasoline cans, gas cartridges, torch lighters, and methyl alcohol, which he used to make Molotov cocktails, Taipei police said.

Police said the long timeline of Chang's purchases and his use of a pseudonym, Chang Feng-yen (張峰嚴), while buying the items, indicated that he had planned and prepared for the attack for some time.

Other aspects of the attack, including where Chang got his long knife and money, the contents of a burned laptop, as well as CCTV footage, are still being investigated and analyzed, Lu said.

Police are also planning to contact the relevant financial institutions to look into Chang's finances on Monday, Lu said. At present, there is no indication that he was in contact with any Chinese nationals, he added.