A four-year-old Taiwanese toddler was beheaded in front of her mother on Monday, in the country’s capital ‘Taipei’ in what police said appeared to be a random killing, sending shock waves through the island.

According to a police statement, the victim, surnamed Liu, was with her mother, heading to a metro station in Taipei to meet up with relatives, when a 33-year-old man attacked her. The killer grabbed the child from behind and beheaded her with a kitchen knife, pushing away the mother of the girl, who had rushed forward to save her daughter.

Seven bystanders were unable to stop the man, who was arrested at the scene. Police said the suspect, surnamed Wang, had been arrested in the past over drug-related crimes. He is currently in police custody.

On Monday, angry mob outside a police station in Taipei, attacked the suspect as he was being transferred to the prosecutor’s office for questioning. He pleaded with them to “stop beating”. Others came to lay flowers and toys at the spot where the girl was killed, near an elementary school, while a children’s welfare group urged the public to join a rally next month in memory of the child.

A district court ruled that Wang was a flight risk and ordered him to be detained. Taiwan’s Apple Daily reported that Wang was unemployed and living with his parents and had been hospitalized due to mental health issues.