[Graphic] Hong Kong police have fired multiple live rounds in Sai Wan Ho, one of which struck a protester in his abdomen. The incident occurred during a citywide strike.
Protesters had been blocking roads at an intersection outside Tai On Building in Sai Wan Ho. At around 7:15am, a police officer tried to give chase to multiple masked men before he pulled out a service pistol and pointed it at them, according to a live stream by Cupid Producer. He then grabbed a protester in white and shot another protester in black at close range.
Another black-clad protester appeared to try and grab the officer’s gun. The officer then fired two more shots. It is unclear if either round hit a person.
Bloodstains were seen on the ground where the two had been subdued. One protester appeared to be conscious as he responded to onlookers who asked for his name, however, the other protester was unresponsive.
Angry crowds confronted police officers, who deployed pepper spray in return. A woman appeared to approach the unconscious protester but was wrestled down by a riot police officer.
The two protesters were taken away in an ambulance shortly after.
An anonymous source told Ming Pao that the 21-year-old unresponsive protester was injured in his kidney and liver, with his renal vein crushed. His heart stopped once and required cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The operation was completed at 10:30am.
The source added that two people were shot in total, however, the other patient did not require an emergency operation.
At 11am, the Hospital Authority released a statement saying that a man who had sustained a gunshot wound was in critical condition.
The government released a statement at around 12:20pm confirming that an officer had shot at least one man with a live round but refuted allegations that senior police had ordered frontline officers to “recklessly” use their firearms during Monday’s operations.
“Police [clarify] that this allegation is totally false and malicious. Police [have] strict guidelines and orders regarding the use of firearms,” it read. “We appeal to radical protestors to be calm and rational. Protesters should stop all acts that threaten others’ safety and obstruct police’s lawful execution of duty.”
Inflamed anger
Pro-democracy legislator Ray Chan criticised a riot police officer who was filmed attempting to pick up the injured protester as he bled out. In a tweet, Chan wrote: “Is this the proper way to handle a casualty who is likely to suffer from internal organ lacerations and crushed veins?”
The unarmed young man shot in the abdomen is an alumnus of Salesian School on #HongKong Island, the high school I went to. Is this the proper way to handle a casualty who is likely to suffer from internal organ lacerations and crushed veins? #SaiWanHo #HongKongProtests #FreedomHK pic.twitter.com/05kZAauzLL
— Ray Chan (@ray_slowbeat) November 11, 2019
At around 10:22am, tear gas was fired in an attempt to clear protesters who had blocked parts of Sai Wan Ho with makeshift barricades and bricks.
Parts of Hong Kong ground to a halt on Monday as protesters tried to disrupt the morning commute as part of a wider plan to mobilise a general strike. Arrests were made in Tuen Mun, Wong Tai Sin and Sha Tin. MTR services were disrupted on the Kwun Tong Line, Tung Chung Line, East Rail Line, and the Ma On Shan Line. Light rail services were also affected.
Demonstrators had vowed to escalate their tactics following the death of 22-year-old Alex Chow Tsz-lok, who succumbed to his injuries after falling one storey in a car park. While the cause of Chow’s death remains unclear, riot police were conducting dispersal operations nearby at the time of his fall.
