Three killed in knife attack after smoke bomb attack at train station in Taiwan; the suspect jumps to his death from a department store

A man with a knife and a smoke grenade indiscriminately attacked a crowd in Taiwan’s capital on Friday night, killing at least three people and wounding 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 the suspect was pronounced dead at a hospital after jumping from the sixth floor of the building, 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 Taipei’s main subway station, near 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 several people on the first and fourth floors of the Eslite department store, mainly in the neck, the news agency said, citing police.

Friday’s attack took place during the city’s evening rush hour, BBC News reported, and videos shared on social media show people fleeing the scene in panic.

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

Taiwanese Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai said one of the injured 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.

Cho said he had ordered increased security at subway and railway stations, as well as airports, in response to the attack, BBC News reported.

“Let’s investigate [the suspect’s] background and associated relationships to understand their motives and “determine” whether there are other related factors,” Cho said as quoted by Reuters news agency.

Chang failed to report for military reserve training in November 2024 and was wanted for violating the law on conscription, the news agency reported. He apparently failed to report any changes to his household registration, resulting in his citation for military reserve duty not being served, the news agency reported, citing the district attorney’s office.

The last major incident of this type occurred in 2014, BBC News reported, when a man killed four people on a subway train in Taipei. The perpetrator of that attack was executed two years later.