At least one protester was shot in Sai Wan Ho this morning as a citywide boycott of work and classes kicked off today.
Video posted online by local production company Cupid Producer shows protesters trying to block the road with makeshift barricades in a bid to disrupt traffic just before 8am this morning. As officers try to clear the scene, one of them — wearing a white shirt — pulls his firearm out and aims it at a masked protester in a white hoodie.
As he wrestles with the person in the hoodie, another unarmed protester begins to approach. As the second protesters nears, the officers shoots him in the abdomen at point blank range.
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Two more shots ring out and a second black-clad protester falls to the ground, but it was unclear if they were shot.
At one point in the video, as the two protesters are held down by officers, the person filming can be heard asking the pair for their names. The one in purple backpack appears to give his surname as Wu, while the one who was shot doesn’t respond.
RTHK reports that the protester that was shot was sent to Eastern Hospital for surgery.
The planned disruptions come after a university student passed away after succumbing to a brain injury sustained in a fall at a car park during a police dispersal operation in Tseung Kwan O a week ago today.
The student, Chow Tsz-lok, died on Friday morning, and thousands of people attended a vigil for him in Tamar Park on Saturday.
Several universities, including Chow’s alma mater Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, have announced that classes today will be canceled ahead of the citywide strike.
As of press time, police had already fired tear gas on campus at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hung Hom.
The MTR also announced this morning that there have been disruptions to services, lines that have been affected so far include the Tsuen Wan, Kwun Tong, Tung Chun, East Rail, West Rail, and Ma On Shan lines.
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