Taiwanese media are reporting that a 3-year-old girl has been decapitated in an apparently random killing outside a subway station in the capital.
Local media say police arrested a man following Tuesday's attack 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.
Violent crime is rare in Taiwan.
