Gunman in suspected underworld hit flees to China
A man suspected of carrying out an execution-style killing in New Taipei City yesterday displayed meticulous planning, and boarded a plane to China just hours after the shooting.
Police have identified a 24-year-old man named Huang as the main suspect in the killing of 45-year-old Ho Ming-hsun, who was gunned down in the front yard of his family home in Hsintien District at 8:15 am yesterday morning. Huang has an extensive criminal history, including convictions for firearms offences, drugs, injury, and fraud.
According to the investigation so far, Huang purchased a car from a woman named Lin several days ago. At around 2:00 am yesterday, Huang drove from Kaohsiung City to Hsintien District, New Taipei City. At around 6:00 am, Huang parked a short distance from Ho’s front gate. Huang watched Ho leave the house to take his daughter to school, then waited for Ho to return alone. Huang then followed Ho into his front yard and shot him in the head and neck at short range from behind.
Immediately following the shooting, Huang was seen jogging back to the car. Huang then drove down the mountain road and abandoned the car in the IKEA parking lot on Huanhe Road, Hsintien District. Huang changed clothes there, then hailed a taxi.
Huang was next seen at 9:00 am at the Longshan Temple MRT Station Plaza, where he changed clothes again. Security monitor footage showed Huang offering his discarded near-new brand name clothing and shoes to a homeless man, who politely declined. Huang then left the bag of clothes on a bench and took another taxi to Taoyuan International Airport.
Huang arrived at the airport at 9:55 am, and was seen wandering around the airport carrying a black backpack. Sometime before 12:00 pm, Huang tossed the gun, wrapped in a sock, into a ditch outside of terminal 2. At noon, Huang checked in for a flight to Xiamen, China, and left Taiwan at 2:40 pm.
Police investigators were confident that they would quickly identify, track down, and arrest the suspect when they found the abandoned vehicle yesterday at around 6:00 pm. However, Huang’s clever use of breakpoints and quick actions meant that by the time he was identified, he had already left the country.
At around 11:00 pm, investigators found the gun and bullets that Huang had discarded at the airport.
Huang is believed to be currently residing in a quarantine hotel in Xiamen. Police are preparing to make a formal request with counterparts in China to extradite Huang back to Taiwan.
Investigators noted the meticulous and detailed planning in the execution of the crime, and the suspect’s escape, including obtaining a negative test certificate for COVID-19 ahead of time, and choice of flight to a country with which Taiwan has no extradition treaty.
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