The March 19 shooting (Chinese: 三一九槍擊事件; Pinyin: Sānyījiǔ qiāngjī shìjiàn) refers to a failed assassination attempt carried out against DPP politicians President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Anette Lu the night before the 2004 presidential election.
Chen and Lu were touring the streets of Tainan in an open jeep, when they noticed that they had been shot in the chest and the knee respectively. Both of them were treated by medical staff and recovered. but the shooter has not been identified since.
Reactions from politicians and pundits were swift. KMT candidate Lien Chan expressed that the election must take place regardless of the shooting, fearing that Chen might use it as justification for cancelling the election. Some on the pan-Blue side made accusations that the shooting was deliberately set up with the intent to garner sympathy votes. Ironically these accusations caused an outrage that likely contributed to the DPP's slim victory with 50.11% of the votes, a margin of 29,518.1
