A young police constable shot dead a street-sleeper who was attacking another officer with a chopper, an inquest heard yesterday.
Chong Ka-man, now 21, fired two bullets into the man's chest. The first one had not stopped him wielding the weapon against Constable Hau Kin-chung, the court heard.
Constable Chong said he opened fire because he feared his colleague might be seriously hurt.
The constable told the hearing he warned the unidentified street-sleeper to stop before shooting him.
A security guard had alerted police after seeing the man, aged between 50 and 60, on the roof of a building in Hong Lok Street, Mongkok, on September 21, 1995.
Three officers arrived and asked him for ID. He claimed they had killed his mother and attacked them. Constable Hau suffered minor injuries.
