Police on Thursday said they are looking for a suspect who shot up the office of a Tainan City councilor and a private business establishment in the city’s Syuejia District in the early hours of that day.
A report was received about exploding firecrackers on Zhongzhen Road at 3 a.m., but responding officers found the steel roller-door to independent City Councilor Hsieh Tsai-wang’s (謝財旺) office riddled with about 30 bullet holes, Syuejia police precinct said.
Empty shells used in the shooting were also found scattered on the floor at the scene, the precinct added.
Surveillance footage showed that the suspect, arriving on a scooter, stopped in front of the office and fired several times with what appears to be a submachine gun before speeding away, it said.
Police only later discovered that the same individual shot up a technology firm shortly before arriving at Hsieh’s office, Tainan City Police Department Commissioner Fang Yeang-ning (方仰寧) told reporters.
Investigators found 58 bullet casings at the scene, Fang said, noting that the two incidents in Syuejia did not result in any injuries.
According to Tainan City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) of the main opposition Kuomintang, the technology firm that was shot up is owned by Kuo Tsai-chin (郭再欽), an executive committee member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Police are currently attempting to identify the gunman and determine the motivation for the crime, the commissioner said.
Hsieh Tsai-wang is an independent councilor who is not running for re-election in the upcoming nine-in-one elections this month. He is however supporting his daughter, Hsieh Shu-fan (謝舒凡), who is a DPP candidate, and she is currently using his office as her campaign office.
The councilor said the shooting was clearly politically motivated, as some netizens have attacked his and his daughter’s political views online recently.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said the shootings are being investigated by local prosecutors, stressing that maintaining social order and combating crime are the priorities of the city’s police.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel