This is without a doubt the strangest and wildest incident that I’ve ever seen involving airport transportation, as reported by Focus Taiwan and flagged by LoyaltyLobby.
Continue reading: Taipei Airport Police Open Fire While Arresting Unlicensed Ride Share Driver
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
They should've fired the shots directly at him and put this repeat offender out of commission permanently. We don't need scum like that on an already overcrowded planet.
Ben: "I think pulling a gun out over unlicensed ridesharing is probably overkill"
Unhinged OMAAT readers: "Oh no, if anything it doesn't go far enough..."
Shots fired over a victimless crime? It sounds like Taipei PD must be outsourcing their training to the United States.
Police there need better training if they are firing warning shots into the air as what goes up must come down. Once the gun comes out its lethal force time which in this case was legit because the driver already ran someone over.
I mean, they didn't open fire over an authorised taxi (no, Uber et al are not "ride shares"), but over him not following police orders. That's quite a difference.
Chinese are known to flaunt the rules when living in the west. Then they pretend they don’t speak English. Luckily, here on the East Coast it’s usually blacks who solicit passengers at the airports. Chinese don’t do it because of the lack of language skills.
Two comments:
1. Shots were fired after the guy drove toward the police officer. In the US that would be an assault with a deadly weapon, police would shoot to kill - no warning shots or shooting out the tires. And in this case that's exactly what they should have done - the driver could have easily killed the passenger!
2. Warning shots in the air *at the airport*??? Seriously?
Re #2: What's a problem with that? That's how you do warning shots. Do you expect them to shoot a plane from the sky with a pistol?
Being scammed at best and kidnapped for organ harvesting at worst is not a victimless crime. Just giving you a full range of possible outcomes.
Shoot a plane right out of the sky - not likely. Puncture something that would force a return to the airport - yes. Fuel or hydraulic fluid leak or inability to pressurize, for example.
Guns are lethal weapons, not warning devices. Don't fire one if you don't intend to kill (hunting included) or are practicing at a shooting range. Uniformed police ordering you to stop is the warning. If you drive directly toward (rather than away from) an officer, expect to be shot. Same thing happens if you drive over another person while fleeing.
Ben better watch out or get banned for not writing "Taiwan, China". China forced many airlines, like Air Canada, to use the term "Taiwan, China". United refused and just says "Taipei" with no country.
America better watch out for the One China policy. There is just one China and America is a province of China. America, Taiwan, both provinces of China. Trump is Governor of America. Chuck Schumer is Senate Minority Leader of the Province of America Senate.
Hi Ben, The correct airport name for TPE is Taiwan Taoyuan, not Taipei Taoyuan. This is because the airport is located in Taoyuan city, not Taipei. You may want to update the post to reflect this.
The chances of hitting aircraft that just happens to be flying above the airport's service road is basically zero, it's absolute nonsense. I mean, how would that even work? You can't have a plane that close to a building and low enough for a bullet from a pistol to be able to hit it. Planes land on runways, not on terminal buildings.
And warning shots in the broader semse are a normal procedure or just about any civilised police force on the planet.
Having just arrived in Taipei, I was able to avoid this by taking the MRT [train].
Look at the armchair law enforcement experts. Warning shots are idiotic. Bullets when they go up have to come down. There are documented cases of police warning shots killing completely innocent bystanders. Next the armchair law enforcement experts will be demanding people to shoot perpetrators in the leg. Excellent way for cops to be killed because the suspect is still able to retaliate. Back in 2022 in Taiwan two cops were killed by being stabbed to death. The perpetrator then helped himself to their guns. I wouldn't rely on Taiwan to be a blueprint of best law enforcement practices in terms of keeping officers safe.
Meanwhile the driver ran over his passenger but sure its overkill....... People without law enforcement experience really need to stay in their lane because they have no clue.
You're unhinged if you think criminals like that driver should be allowed to exist.
When the driver was trying to get away, the passenger fell out of the car, and he almost ran the guy over while trying to get away. I'd say the passenger was a victim. He could've been killed.
As a Taiwanese american I think those cops are so amateur they dont even deserve to be security guards. What an embarassment. You dont just discharge a firearm for warning shot or shoot out the tire, could have ended up much worse for bystanders. Plus highways have so many cameras/cops that it would have been easy to catch up with the driver.
I'm also in and out of TPE 20+ times a year and have observed basically all kinds of "illegal" hailing. Lots of gray area stuff going on. Sometimes licensed taxi drivers (not authorized to pickup at TPE) will loiter in the arrival hall trying to catch a rider back to the city and sometimes authorized uber drivers will give their business card to frequent riders thereby bypassing the airport/uber fee system while being fully insured as a taxi provider.