The family of a man who was shot by a female police officer in a busy MTR station two weeks ago have demanded a new inquiry into the incident after an internal investigation cleared the officer involved of using excessive force.
Chow King-tang, 55, was shot in the abdomen inside Sham Shui Po MTR station by a female officer surnamed Yuen who believed her life was under threat after he reportedly brandished a box cutter.
He is now in hospital with a spinal cord that could leave him paralyzed from the waist-down, according to his son.
Yuen and her colleague were carrying out a stop and search operation at the station at the time, and stopped Chow because he reportedly looked suspicious.
In the days after the incident, lawmakers and rights groups criticized the shooting as an excessive use of force given that it happened inside a busy MTR station during rush hour. They questioned why the officer didn’t use either pepper spray or her baton to diffuse the situation instead.
CCTV footage from a store inside the station posted online also shows the female police officer backing up before shooting.
At a press briefing in the Legislative Council held yesterday and live-streamed by Apple Daily, Chow’s son, wife, and his boss called for another inquiry into the incident, after police commissioner Stephen Lo announced on Saturday that an internal investigation cleared Yuen of wrongdoing.
James To, a Democratic Party lawmaker who hosted the conference, said he was approached by the family, and he described the internal investigation as “biased” and “flawed.”
He said that if the police had done their work properly and interviewed people such as Chow’s boss, they would have realised that Chow was a renovation worker who always has a box cutter on him.
Chow’s son — who refused to give his full name to reporters — said his dad is suffering from a spinal chord injury that could leave him paralyzed from the waist-down. He added that he was recently transferred from an intensive care unit to a regular ward, but was only conscious at times, and struggles to keep food or liquids down.
He also said that doctors advised Chow — who is reportedly on bail after being arrested for assaulting officers and possessing an offensive weapon — not to give a statement due to his current condition.
