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Clifford Lo

Man surrenders to police at MTR station after attacking officer who stopped him to check his ID

A police officer was fighting for his life in hospital last night after being stabbed in the neck by a man who later surrendered to police.

Constable Chu Chun-kwok, 30, chased the man for about 20 metres with blood spraying from his wound before collapsing.

Detectives said they were investigating the possibility that the culprit, who left his identity card at the scene, was poised to carry out a robbery when he was stopped by the officer in Po On Road, Cheung Sha Wan, at 8.30am.

Constable Chu had left Cheung Sha Wan police station at about 8am to start his patrol alone and was conducting his first identity check of the day. The man is understood to have struck out with the knife after handing over his identity card.

'It appeared that the officer was preparing to write down details in his notebook when the man took out a knife and attacked him,' said Superintendent David Cameron, assistant Shamshuipo district commander (crime). It was not known why the officer did not use his service revolver before he collapsed. Last night he was in critical condition in Caritas Medical Centre.

Passers-by offered help to the injured officer and called police before medics arrived. One man, surnamed Lui, said: 'I saw the police officer run after the assailant.  He then slowed down before he collapsed.'

Another  onlooker, surnamed Law, saw the officer bleeding.  'Blood was spraying out from his neck even though someone covered his wound with his hands. His shirt was originally blue and it quickly turned red,' Mr Law said.

Officers said the culprit fled on foot but left behind his identity card. He ran into an alley where he dumped a bloodstained fruit knife, which was later recovered by police. He had disappeared before policemen arrived.

Officers mounted a huge search in the area and beat police were ordered to look out for the man. After identifying the suspect and finding his address, officers went to his home in Sheung Shui.

Shortly after 1.30pm the assailant called home and told his parents that he would go to Mongkok police station to give himself up. About 15 minutes later he stopped a uniformed police officer at one of the exits at Mongkok MTR station and surrendered. The suspect reportedly told investigators that he panicked during the identity check because he feared that the constable would  find the fruit knife in his pocket.

It is understood that the man has no criminal record. Last night he was in police custody and no charge had been laid against him.

Constable Chu suffered a single stab wound to the left side of his neck. It punctured an artery and he lost a lot of blood.

Yuen Wing-lok, head of the Caritas Medical Centre's accident and emergency department, said the officer's blood pressure could not be measured and his pulse was weak when he arrived.

'His artery was punctured but the wound wasn't too big - around 2 to 3cm,' Dr Yuen said. He was given more than a litre of blood during an operation lasting an hour.

Constable Chu, who is attached to the patrol sub-unit of Cheung Sha Wan police station, lives with his wife and seven-year-old daughter in Sha Tin. He has been in the force for about 10 years.

Commissioner of Police Dick Lee Ming-kwai, who has warned that services might be affected if more recruits are not taken on, said the incident showed the danger of a frontline officer's job.

The Junior Police Officers' Association responded to the attack by saying it will fight for more resources to change the system that requires frontline officers to  patrol the streets alone.

Vice-chairman Chung Kam-wa  said patrolling alone  was very risky, although there was a standard safety procedure on how to carry out a routine stop and search.

'It is impossible for  officers to  forecast whether  someone they stop and search in the street is a dangerous or violent person. Yesterday's attack is an isolated case but it reflects that our work is dangerous,' he said.

Officers were under pressure since recruitment dropped sharply as part of the government's cost-cutting. The  association would continue to demand more resources from the Security Bureau and civil service branch.



Stabbed constable fights for life