SINGAPORE – Singaporean singer Willis Loye’s instincts kicked in when a masked person, later found to be carrying two knives, bolted from a temple celebration in Taiwan on April 18.
Mr Loye, 43, chased the suspect down three streets and a busy road junction for more than 15 minutes before subduing him.
With the help of four other men, he pinned down the suspect and asked passers-by to call the police. Taiwanese media outlet LTN later reported that the suspect was a 17-year-old known as Chen, who is believed to suffer from mental health issues and has been sent to a hospital for treatment and evaluation.
When officers arrived, the suspect was found with a knife. When they tried to detain him, he produced another blade hidden in his sleeve, and injured a policewoman and another man by slicing their fingers.
Mr Loye had just finished performing at a celebration at the Grand Guandi Temple in Taichung at 8pm that day when he noticed a figure in black, wearing gloves and a white smiley-face mask in the crowd.
“The figure was very still and waved his right hand slowly at the performers. His left hand held a shiny object that was protruding from his pocket,” Mr Loye told The Straits Times on April 20.
Surveillance footage showed a suspect dressed in black with a white mask.
“At first, I thought the figure was a hired magician. But, when the temple owner got up and asked him who he was and he bolted, I knew something was very wrong.”
Based in Taiwan, Mr Loye performs modern temple music. He had been visiting Taiwan when the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020 and has remained there since.
Along with the temple owner and three other men, they chased the masked man from the temple into an open carpark, where Mr Loye told the suspect to remove his mask, and picked up a long wooden stick for protection.
The suspect refused and fled again when Mr Loye threatened to call the police.
Mr Loye said: “I wasn’t afraid of the suspect. I was focused on catching him. But, I was worried about being hit by a car or mistaken as the attacker.”
When the suspect paused to adjust his hoodie, Mr Loye and another man approached from behind, struck him with the wooden stick and restrained him until the police arrived.
“He kept struggling, so I used my body weight and pressed down on his knees. He was shouting, ‘Don’t remove my mask! Don’t call the police!’” Mr Loye recalled.
When officers arrived, a suspect was found with a knife. When they tried to detain him, he produced another blade hidden in his sleeve.
(PHOTO: WILLIS LOYE)
When the episode was over, the singer also helped the injured policewoman clean her wounds.
Mr Loye’s account of the incident has since gone viral on social media platform Threads, garnering more than a million views and thousands of comments praising his actions.
“There were about 100 people and many kids at the event. I was worried that this would end like the Taipei knife attack where so many got hurt,” he said. “I’m glad we acted fast before the teen attacked others.”
On Dec 19, 2025, a knife-wielding attacker killed three people and injured 11 others when he went on a rampage in central Taipei.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
