Hong Kong police shoot protester as activists block streets
HONG KONG — Police in Hong Kong shot a protester as demonstrators blocked subway lines and roads during the Monday morning commute.
Online video showed a police officer collaring one protester and then shooting another who approaches. The officer fired again as a third protester approached. Police said that only one protester was hit and is undergoing surgery.
The video was posted on Facebook by Cupid Producer, an outlet that started last year and appears to post mostly live videos related to local news.
The shooting occurred in a crosswalk at a large intersection strewn with debris that had backed-up traffic in Sai Wan Ho, a neighborhood on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island.
Protesters blocked intersections around the city. Public broadcaster RTHK said that a fire was set inside a train at Kwai Fong station and service suspended at several stations.
A patch of what looked like dried blood could be seen in a cordoned-off area after the shooting, as angry onlookers shouted insults at the police.
Masked protesters continued to try to block other intersections in the area, and police responded with pepper spray, hitting some bystanders as well.
On Sunday, police fired tear gas and protesters broke windows at a shopping mall in anti-government demonstrations across Hong Kong amid anger over a student activist’s death and the arrest of pro-democracy lawmakers.
Hong Kong is in the sixth month of protests that began over a proposed extradition law and have expanded to include demands for greater democracy and police accountability. Activists say Hong Kong’s autonomy and Western-style civil liberties, promised when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997, are eroding.
The territory is preparing for Nov. 24 district council elections that are viewed as a measure of public sentiment toward the government.
Pro-democracy lawmakers accuse the government of trying to provoke violence to justify canceling or postponing the elections. /kga