Taipei: The Taoyuan District Court on Sunday approved the incommunicado detention of a man who allegedly held an airline intern at knifepoint at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport a day earlier, following a request from the Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office.
According to Focus Taiwan, the suspect, surnamed Tsai, was ordered detained for two months from Sunday after prosecutors sought his detention on suspicion of assault, deprivation of personal liberty with a weapon, coercion, and an offense against public safety. The court cited statements from the victim and witnesses, as well as body-camera and surveillance footage and photographs of the victim's injuries, as sufficient grounds to suspect him of multiple offenses.
The court noted that Tsai has no permanent residence or contact phone number and that his wife and children live in Hong Kong, making him a flight risk. Concerns were also raised about the potential for him to collude with witnesses.
Aviation police reported receiving an alert at around 5:25 p.m. about a man wielding a knife in the Cathay Pacific Airways staff lounge in Terminal 1. Officers subdued Tsai at 5:58 p.m. using pepper spray, Tasers, and police batons. Tsai sustained superficial injuries, while several officers were hurt. The intern, surnamed Huang, suffered lacerations to his right hand and abdomen.
Police discovered a bag containing drug residue and paraphernalia after apprehending Tsai. Tests are underway to determine if he had consumed drugs. Due to a prohibition on nighttime interrogation, police continued their investigation Sunday morning before transferring Tsai to the prosecutors' office around 1 p.m.
Sources revealed that Tsai is financially struggling and estranged from his family. He intended to visit them in Hong Kong but, upon learning that his wife had not purchased a ticket for him, experienced an emotional outburst.
Lu Yen-liang, chair of Chaoyang University of Technology's Department of Aviation Technology, where Huang studies, spoke on Huang's behalf to mitigate further trauma. Lu explained that the attack appeared random, as Huang did not know Tsai and they had not interacted at the ticket counter.
Huang had just changed out of his uniform in the staff lounge and was using his mobile phone when Tsai entered after following another employee through the access gate. Huang remained calm and attempted to disarm Tsai when the suspect became agitated and was distracted by police.
Huang sustained a hand laceration and a 20-centimeter-long abdominal cut, though luckily not deep. Lu stated that the school promptly activated emergency procedures, sending faculty to support Huang and contacting his parents.
The school assured cooperation with Cathay Pacific to provide Huang with counseling and psychological support. Cathay Pacific expressed concern for Huang's condition and pledged assistance while cooperating fully with the police investigation.