Sequence of Events
President Chen and Vice President Lu were standing in the back seat of an open convertible Jeep moving slowly through a crowded street when around 1:45 PM, a bullet penetrated the windshield of the vehicle, grazed Chen's stomach, and was stopped in his clothes. Chen received a flesh wound 11 centimetres (4.3 in) long and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) wide. The other bullet penetrated the windshield and hit a cast on Lu's knee which she was wearing due to an earlier injury and was later found in the vehicle. At first both believed that they had been hit by firecrackers, which are common in Taiwanese political parades and rallies. Chen realized that it was something more serious when he noticed that he was bleeding from the abdomen and that there was a bullet hole in the window. Chen reported pain in his abdomen and Lu reported pain in her knee and they were taken to the Chi-Mei Hospital. At 3:30 pm, the spokesperson for the president, Chiou I-Jen, announced that the "National Security Mechanism" had been activated. By 5:30 pm, both the Pan-Blue and Pan-Green coalitions announced that they would cease all scheduled campaigning activities.
At 5:45 pm, the hospital announced that the president had suffered an 11 centimetres (4.3 in) long and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) wide gash across his abdomen. Around 6:00 PM, two shells were found on the campaign route where the shooting took place.
The president returned to his official residence by 9:00 PM and, in a video released to the public, the urged the Taiwanese people to remain calm and indicated that neither his health nor the security of Taiwan was threatened.
The next day's election was not postponed, as Taiwanese law only allows for suspension of an election on the death of a candidate. Chen's opponent, Lien Chan, and Lien's campaign manager Wang Jin-ping tried to visit Chen on the night of the incident, but were unable to see the president because he was resting. Chen appeared in public the next day when he turned out to cast his vote.
Read more about this topic: 3-19 Shooting Incident
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