(UTV|COLOMBO) – A Hong Kong police officer fired a gunshot during protests on Sunday, the first time a live round has been used since demonstrations broke out in June.
Images show several other officers also pointed guns at protesters who charged at them with sticks and poles.
In another first, police deployed water cannon against protesters earlier in the day.
The protests began in the city’s Tsuen Wan district and then spread to the district of Tsim Sha Tsui.
Hong Kong police said 36 people had been arrested as a result of Sunday’s protests, the youngest aged just 12.
Demonstrations were sparked by an extradition bill but have since morphed into broader anti-government protests, and developments on Sunday marked a serious escalation in the unrest.
Police told local media that the gunshot was fired as a warning to protesters, and that several officers had been taken to hospital as a result of the clashes.
They clarified in a statement on Monday that six officers had drawn their pistols and one had fired the warning shot into the air.
Police Superintendent Leung Kwok-wing did not say where the shot was aimed but told news outlet SCMP that the shot was fired because the lives of police officers were “under threat”. (BBC)
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