3 killed in Taiwan knife attack, with the suspect later falling to his death from a department store

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A man with a knife and a smoke grenade attacked crowds indiscriminately in Taiwan’s capital on Friday evening, killing at least three people and injuring nine others, according to the national news agency and the city government. The suspect later fell to his death from a department store building.

Police said that the suspect was declared dead at a hospital after jumping from the building’s sixth floor, the Central News Agency reported.

The suspect, identified as a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen, threw a smoke grenade near an underground exit of the Taipei Main subway station, close to the city’s main train station, sending pedestrians running, according to local media reports.

He then headed north to a popular shopping district, where he stabbed multiple people on the first and fourth floors of the Eslite department store, primarily in the neck, the news agency said, citing police.

Local hospitals reported three deaths from the attacks. The city government said nine others were hospitalized, including one with serious injuries.

Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said that one of the wounded was a pedestrian who fell to the ground after being attacked, and that person was already in cardiac arrest before being sent to a hospital. The smoke caused respiratory injuries to another person.

Chang failed to report for reserve military training in November 2024, and he was wanted for violating the law on mandatory military service, the news agency reported. He apparently didn’t report a change in household registration, resulting in nondelivery of his reserve military service summons, the news agency reported, citing a district prosecutors’ office.