Taipei police discovered 25 Molotov cocktails in a hotel room used by 27-year-old suspect Chang Wen two days before his Friday evening smoke grenade and stabbing attacks at Taipei Main and Zhongshan Metro stations, where he also torched his apartment, car, and two motorcycles beforehand and carried undetonated firebombs, according to TVBS reports issued over the past hour ending at 2:46 p.m. UTC. Chang, wanted for obstructing military service, hurled objects including M18 smoke grenades near Taipei Main Station's exit around 5:30 p.m. local time before fleeing to Zhongshan Station, deploying more smoke bombs, slashing passersby with a knife inside a department store, and falling to his death from the building, as detailed by Shanghai Daily and New27Brigade posts during the 59-minute reporting window. Police searched Chang's burned rental home following the pre-attack arsons, confirming he wore a gas mask and black clothes during the rampage that killed three people including himself and injured at least nine others near the two stations, per TVBS and prior TVBS updates. The attacks began with a smoke bomb at Taipei Main Station's M7 exit at 5:27 p.m. local time, leaving four in critical condition, according to earlier TVBS reporting on Friday's events.
