Man shot to death after attacking police with knife at Miaoli market

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) A 40-year-old man who threatened people with a knife at a traditional market in Miaoli Wednesday morning was fatally shot by police after stabbing an officer in the head, authorities said.

In a statement, the Miaoli County Police Bureau's Miaoli Precinct said one of its officers had followed use of force guidelines by firing two shots in self-defense and defense of members of the public.

One of the shots hit the suspect, surnamed Chung (鍾), in the chest, while the other struck the left hand of a bystander who had come forward to offer assistance, the department said.

A vendor at Nan Miao Market in Miaoli City, surnamed Huang (黃), told CNA that Chung had come to the market at around 7:30 a.m. and asked to borrow his wife's phone.

When she refused, Chung took out a knife and began making threats. After a market administrator was called to the area, Chung said he had come to collect money from someone who owed him, but refused to put away his knife, Huang said.

Police who arrived at the scene tried talking to Chung, and then ordered him to put the knife down. When Chung refused, an officer sprayed him with pepper spray, causing him to fly into a rage and run erratically around the market, Huang said.

At this point, Huang said, one of the officers, surnamed Chu (朱), tried to apprehend Chuang and was stabbed twice in the head, drawing blood.

As bystanders came forward to separate the two, the other officer, surnamed Lee (李), fired two shots at Chung and then restrained him on the ground.

According to the Miaoli Fire Bureau, Chung, Chu and a bystander surnamed Luo (羅), who was struck in the left hand by a stray bullet, were taken to two area hospitals.

In a subsequent statement, Miaoli Hospital said Chu, the police officer, sustained stab wounds on his forehead and the top of his head. He lost 500-1,000 cc of blood and had to be given stitches and a blood transfusion.

A CT scan showed that Chu's skull was also fractured in the attack, the hospital said, adding that he was being treated in the ICU but his vital signs were stable.

Chung, meanwhile, was sent into emergency surgery for wounds on the left side of his chest and abdomen, but later died, according to the Miaoli District Prosecutors office.

Based on a preliminary investigation, police said Chung previously ran a stall at a market in nearby Houlong Township and had a criminal record including convictions for attempted murder and causing bodily harm.

According to a report in the Chinese-language ET Today, Chung had a history of mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse, and had been committed to mental institutions several times, dating back to 2005.

Chung was sentenced to 3 years of compulsory care in a mental institution after attacking a fellow patient with a sickle in 2018, local media reported.