Police arrest man following Monday’s apparently random attack outside subway station in Taipei, according to local media

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A three-year-old girl has been decapitated in an apparently random killing by a man with a cleaver in the capital of Taiwan, according to reports.

Local media say police arrested a man following Monday’s attack outside a metro station in Taipei.

According to the reports, the man, identified by his surname, Wang, grabbed the girl from behind and decapitated her with a cleaver shortly before noon. The girl was with her mother, who was unable to prevent the attack.

Hours later, an angry crowd gathered outside the police station where Wang had been taken, some brandishing baseball bats in apparent preparation for an attack on the suspect.

The government-run Central News Agency said the 33-year-old Wang had an arrest record for drug crimes and had been treated for mental illness.