Police arrest fifth person linked to Central gang shooting, offer HK$250,000 for tips

Police have charged a fifth person linked to a gang shooting in Central last week and offered HK$250,000 for tips related to the case.

Officers arrested a 25-year-old man over attempting to wound with intent and possession of offensive weapons, police said on Monday night.

Central shooting — Police investigating the shooting on Wyndham Street, Central on June 10, 2022. Photo: Almond Li/HKFP.

Police earlier arrested and charged Kwok Tin-wik, 24; Suman Gurung, 23; Shahid Javed, 42; and Muhammad Gulfam, 36. With the exception of Gulfam, who was hospitalised, the other three attended a hearing on Monday and were remanded in custody.

The shooting – a rare occurrence in Hong Kong – took place on Wyndham Street early last Friday morning.

At around 2:40 a.m. that day, five vehicles were driving along the street when the three cars in front – belonging to one triad group – stopped at the traffic lights. Men from a rival gang got out of the two cars behind, wielding knives, police said.

The gang under attack fought back, firing at least two shots and injuring one man in his stomach before fleeing.

“The incident was instigated by two groups – triad groups – they have been at each other’s throats for quite some time. Mostly the disputes [were] caused by illegal activities such as illegal gambling, such as transaction of trafficked dangerous drugs and things like that. This is kind of a retaliation between these two triad groups,” Tony Ho, senior superintendent from the Police Force’s Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, said during a press briefing last Friday.

In a Monday night Facebook post, police said there was a bounty of HK$250,000 for anybody who could provide information about the incident. The Force added that seven knife-wielding men were at the scene.

Chungking Mansions, Mirador Mansions searched

The police’s Facebook post was accompanied by a series of photographs showing an operation at Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui. NowTV reported that several officers carried out an operation at the building – a complex with restaurants, hostels and other businesses – on Monday night, checking IDs and searching people’s belongings. Police then proceeded to Mirador Mansions for a search operation.

Both Chungking Mansions and Mirador Mansions are known as hubs for ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong, most of whom are of South Asian, Middle Eastern or African descent.

According to police, four of the five men arrested in connection with the shooting in Central were of South Asian descent, while one was Chinese.

Facebook photos posted by police showed officers walking past shops in Chungking Mansions, stopping outside what appeared to be an upstairs hostel, and gathering outside the entrance on Nathan Road.

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