Taipei MRT Massacre

On my 21st, an horrifying and devastated event occurred on one of Taipei's most popular transportation system MRT. A young man of age 21, boarded the underground MRT, with 2 knifes in each hand, starting from the back of the train, cutting down everyone in his way until he made it to the head of the train. 25 people were severely wounded, 4 people lost their lives. Making this one of the most terrifying massacre.

For those who are not familiar with the Taiwan's MRT. It is an advanced subway system that runs all across Taipei city. It is the main transportation for more than one million people on a daily basis. Chang Jie, the murderer responsible for this incident, is a second year university student who attended Dong Hai University. According to Chang Jie's roommates and family, he never had a great amount of friends, he was not in a relationship, and he spends most of his days playing videos that includes graphic contents and killing. Chang Jie seemed to lead a mundane life, despite being rejected by a different university 2 years ago, he didn't seem to have any motifs to commit such crime. His roommates and brother could not believe that this introvert man was the one responsible for the injury of 25 injuries and 4 deaths.

It was mentioned that Chang Jie once vowed to do something 'big' one day. He never indicated what this 'big thing' was going to be nor did anyone close to him had any clues. Allegedly, Change Jie wanted to committ this mass murder after he graduate from university, however, upon that day he randomly decided that today was the day. It is clear that he had been planning on how to go about this murder. Typically on MRT, it takes no longer than 2 minutes to reach the next station.However, from Jiang Zi Tusi station to Longsan Temple Station takes a total of 3 minutes and 46 seconds; the longest ride from one station to another on the MRT map. And that was the ride that Chang Jie picked to accomplish his 'big thing'.

Chang Jie boarded the last cart of the train. He proceeded to walking to the front of the train, cutting down every passenger with the knifes he had prepared. His weapons were 2 fruit knifes (30cm). Because of the high speed MRT system, the train could not be stopped once the door closes. Which gave Chang Jie 3 minutes to do whatever he wishes. After the arrived at the station, he proceeded to attacked the people waiting on the platform. As he attempted to escape through exit 2, he was attacked and brought down by civilians, and later arrested by police officers.

Initially this news shocked me, because MRT was once my main transportation method as well. This news definitely suggested a lack of security at the MRT stations. I personally would not stop taking MRT just because of this event because there really isn't any other options for those who really need a quick way to get around Taipei. However I do think the government should improve the security otherwise how do we know this isn't going to happen again?