Two years after making headlines for “threatening to shoot up” his high school in the United States, the son of Taiwanese celeb couple Sun Peng and Di Ying, Edward Sun, has finally decided to share his side of the story, And he did it through a YouTube video that he posted yesterday (Aug 26).

The video, which was titled “I’m Going To Jail!? Attempting To Manufacture A Firearm?? What Exactly Happened In The United States…”, featured the 20-year-old speaking to the camera and recapping the happenings of the past two years.

According to Edward, the entire ordeal kicked off ‘cos of a joke he had made to his friend.

“I have a habit that isn’t all too good, I have very dry wit, and in that tone, I said something that I probably shouldn’t have said,” he recalled.

He went on to share that he had jokingly told his friend that he was planning to shoot up their school one day.

“I saw that he was very frightened, and I thought that his frightened expression was funny,” he recounted, adding that he did tell his friend that he was “just kidding”.

However, his friend was not convinced, and subsequently went on to report Edward to school authorities that very day.

Edward revealed that the school notified the police immediately. However, they did not apprehend Edward, who had returned home, at that point of time.

The next day, when Edward arrived at school, the principal escorted him out of the classroom immediately, and brought him into another room attached to the office. Once he was inside the room, Edward was greeted by the sight of “five to six armoured police officers, toting guns”.

The officers immediately began questioning Edward, asking if he had told his friend that he intended to shoot up his school. Edward admitted to it, saying that it was just a joke. The police officers then replied: “It's fine, we roughly understand that you’re just joking. Once you fill up this form, we’ll ask you a few more questions and you can go”.

But once the interrogation was done, the officers changed tack, and said that they were formally charging Edward with “making terroristic threats”. He was then handcuffed, and placed into police custody.

Edward admitted that his interest in firearms was a major cause of misunderstanding, as a search of his home had unearthed various military-styled weapons and attire, as well as 1,600 rounds of live ammunition. The United States also do not take threats of a school shooting lightly at all.

“I believe that if there's anyone who shares a similar interest, and happens to make a joke like I did, with everything on record, it’s hard not to treat them as someone crazy, who plans to 'do something drastic’,” Edward admitted.

Similarly, Taiwanese entertainer Jacky Wu's son, musician Rick Wu, made headlines in August 2018 for threatening to “blow up Taipei City Hall” and “make everyone pay” if his girlfriend doesn’t recover from her illness. He was subsequently fined S$22K.

Edward’s case only concluded after a nine month legal battle. He was subsequently deported and banned from the country in December 2018. On Monday (Aug 24), Edward was formally charged with the crime of “attempting to manufacture a firearm” by the prosecutor’s office in Taiwan.

At the very end of the video, Edward admitted that while he was scared at first, he pledged: “No matter what, I’ll accept the final ruling, and continue doing what I’m doing now, no matter if it’s my beverage business, my studies, my [YouTube] channel, to the best of my abilities”.

Photos: PBE Media, Edward Sun/Instagram

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