Hong Kong: An 18-year-old Hongkonger is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot in the chest at close range with a live round by the police on Tuesday, as the Asian financial hub was convulsed by unprecedented chaos on a day when communist China celebrated its 70th birthday.
At least 31 people, including the teenage student with a gunshot wound, were admitted to hospitals with injuries, according to the Hong Kong Hospital Authority.
The young man’s injury marked the first time a protester was injured from a live round since the anti-government demonstration movement erupted in the semiautonomous Chinese city in early June.
The incident, which sent shockwaves through Hong Kong, occurred in the residential area of Tsuen Wan.
TV footage captured by the local media showed a group of police officers clashing with a group of umbrella-wielding black-clad protesters. While the latter hurled objects such as bricks at the police, one officer aimed his gun at the protesters – apparently being just two metres away – and fired a live round.
One of the protesters then fell to the ground. Still conscious, he said: “Take me to the hospital. My chest hurts. Take me to the hospital.” He identified himself as Tsang Chi-kin while being attended to by paramedics, according to Efe news.
Speaking of the incident in a video statement later, a police spokeswoman said “a large group of rioters” attacked the police officers whose lives were therefore “under threat”.
“To save his own live and his colleagues’ lives, he fired a live round at the assailant,” the spokeswoman spoke of the officer who deployed his gun, adding that the young man’s “left shoulder area” was injured. (IANS)
