A police vehicle is parked near the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where the incident took place. NATHAN FRANDINO / REUTERS
The car plunged into the building on Monday afternoon, without causing any injuries. The police admitted to being behind the fatal shooting.
According to several local media, a motorist in a blue car drove into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco on Monday, October 9 in the afternoon. The vehicle ended its journey inside the building, very close to the visa application counters. The police shot the driver, fatally wounding him. Kathryn Winters, a San Francisco police sergeant, told reporters that “officers… made contact with the suspect and an officer-involved shooting occurred.” According to initial information, there were no other injuries.
The suspect has “violently rushed into the administration hall of our consulate, seriously threatening the lives of the teams and people on site and causing serious damage” at the building, said a spokesperson for the consulate in a press release. “The suspect was subdued by the police”he continued, condemning this “attack violence” and requesting the opening of an investigation.
“Where is the CCP?”
A Stanford student who was inside the building testified for the San Francisco Standard having seen the driver with a bloodied head behind the wheel of his car. He would have shouted: “Where is the CCP?» – the Communist Party of China, Editor’s note – as he got out of his Honda. According to this witness, the security agents then seized the individual. A video circulating on social media shows the occupants of the consulate quickly fleeing the scene. The police would have arrived quickly on the scene. The individual died later during his transfer to hospital.
The consulate formally protested in a press release: “The diplomatic mission severely condemns this violent attack and reserves the right to pursue those responsible for the incident.” An investigation by San Francisco police and the State Department is ongoing, according to Ms. Winters. Many residents of Chinese descent, many from Taiwan, call San Francisco home.