Miaoli city: Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for a man surnamed Chiu, accused of stabbing three people, including two elementary school girls, in Miaoli City last month, only six months after his release from prison for an attempted murder conviction related to a 2015 multiple stabbing.
According to Focus Taiwan, Chiu, 48, has been charged under the Child and Juvenile Welfare and Rights Protection Act and the Criminal Code, including two counts of attempted murder of children, one count of attempted murder, and public endangerment, the Miaoli District Prosecutors Office said in a news release on Tuesday. He was arrested after the stabbings, which occurred on Oct. 2, and placed in detention with court approval.
Prosecutors stated that Chiu used methamphetamine that morning. He then taped a 30-centimeter knife to his left hand and rode a scooter in the afternoon in search of victims in Miaoli City. Chiu first attacked a girl surnamed Hsu on Sheliao Street, causing lacerations to her chest and right elbow. She fled toward a convenience store on Zhongzheng Road, where Chiu followed and stabbed a man surnamed Lin at the entrance.
Chiu then seized a girl surnamed Ting and stabbed toward her chest before fleeing when a teacher surnamed Huang intervened. Lin sustained an 8-centimeter chest wound, diaphragm and liver lacerations, and a second deep wound to his lower back. Ting suffered a 3-centimeter chest laceration and a large left-side hemothorax. All three victims survived after receiving emergency treatment. The office indicated that Chiu apparently targeted strangers in unprovoked attacks.