A library in Sha Tin was forced to evacuate on Monday as police deployed the Emergency Unit after being notified of an armed man believed to be browsing websites about terror group the Islamic State.
Police received reports at about 9am of a man carrying a “rifle” while listening to music in Arabic at Yuen Chau Kok Public Library. While the gun in question turned out to be a toy, a box cutter, several razor blades and a self-drawn map of the MTR train lines were seized during the arrest.
An eyewitness, surnamed Law, told Oriental Daily the man was “strange” saying he would “pretend to shoot someone” with his “obviously fake gun”.
The suspect, 26, surnamed Ma, was said to have a medical record of autism.
A police source later told Topick that Ma was only looking at websites about the history of the Middle East, while the music he was listening to was from Saudi Arabia.
But another police source told the same outlet that some computers in the library had turned up browsing history containing information about Islamic State, including maps and animations. Those internet searches could not be immediately connected to the suspect and could, in fact, have come from other library visitors.
The Crime Unit of the New Territories South Regional Police Headquarters has launched a follow-up probe into the incident.
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