Driver who crashed into Chinese consulate in San Francisco while shouting about Communist Party dies after being shot by police
- Police have yet to name the man, who reportedly shouted ‘where’s the CCP?’, and have yet to say why they opened fire or whether he was armed
- Chinese diplomats condemn the incident which happened just as China and the US make plans for a possible leaders’ summit in the city
A man who reportedly shouted about the Chinese Communist Party after crashing a car into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco has died after being shot by police.
No one else was injured in Monday’s incident, which comes ahead of a possible meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping at next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the city.
Authorities have yet to release further details of the incident, including why the police opened fire or whether the person who died was armed.
Kathryn Winters, a spokeswoman for the local police department, said there was “very little information that we can give at this time”, adding that the force was coordinating with investigators from the US State Department.
“This is a unique investigation because it did happen inside the lobby of the Chinese consulate so there’s a number of agencies and jurisdictions that are involved, so this is far different than our normal officer-involved shooting,” said Winters.
The White House has previously said a meeting between Xi and Biden next month is “a possibility” but Beijing has yet to confirm the plans.
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US police fatally shoot driver who crashes car into Chinese consulate in San Francisco
The incident also happened as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is visiting China with a bipartisan congressional delegation, the latest in a series of high-profile visits as the two countries try to arrest the downward spiral in relations.
The unnamed attacker crashed into the lobby of the consulate’s visa office – a place that often sees long queues – at 3pm local time.
The man apparently made a reference to China’s ruling Communist Party, shouting “where’s the CCP?” and using expletives as he left the car, according to Sergii Molchanov, a 32-year-old Stanford University student who was filing documents in the lobby.
“I was inside waiting for my turn to submit the documents for my visa and suddenly a car in full speed crashed via the main door and hit the wall, just two [metres] from where I was sitting,” Molchanov told reporters.
He said the driver, who appeared to be in his thirties, then started to fight with security guards, who stopped him from returning to the car.
A clip filmed by Molchanov showed people fleeing the scene, running past a blue Honda, with a California licence plate, in the document hall. It also recorded the sound of a person, possibly the intruder, saying “I’m an American”.
Winters said police arrived at the scene within minutes and shot the man. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital despite what she described as “life-saving efforts” by police, emergency service workers and hospital staff.
Molchanov said he had heard two gunshots, while another witness said he heard four or five.
The San Francisco Standard, a local newspaper, reported that at least 11 police cars and emergency vehicles were on the scene, with bomb squad technicians and sniffer dogs checking for explosives.
In a statement condemning the attack, a consulate spokesperson said it had “posed a serious threat to the safety of staff and people on site [and] caused serious damage to our consulate’s facilities and properties”.
The statement called for all necessary measures to be taken to ensure the safety of consulate personnel and the premises, and added: “Our embassy has made solemn representations to the US, demanding that the truth be quickly ascertained and dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.”
The Chinese foreign ministry said that the individual had driven the car into the lobby “in an attempt to kill the people at the scene and the staff”.
Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular media briefing on Tuesday that “China strongly urges the United States to conduct a prompt investigation” and take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomatic institutions and personnel.
The consulate, which will remain closed until further notice, has been targeted before. In November, the building was vandalised with graffiti when around 100 people showed up to the site in protest of Beijing’s zero-Covid policies.
The building is located around Geary Boulevard and Laguna Street, near Japantown - a neighbourhood popular with the Asian community, who makes up one third of San Francisco’s population. The city has been in the headlines for its opioid crisis, which kills dozens monthly.
After the incident, shocked and angered Chinese internet users questioned whether the US was able to protect Chinese officials working in the country, while others asked why the attacker had to be killed.
