Kowloon Bay gunman may have triad links
Man who shot neighbour and himself worked at triad-run gambling den in Yau Ma Tei, police say
The Kowloon Bay resident at the centre of twin shooting deaths over the weekend used to operate a triad-run gambling den at the Yau Ma Tei wholesale fruit market, police investigations reveal.
Anti-triad officers were checking if the underworld links of the late Li Tak-yan, 51, had enabled him to amass an arsenal of guns and ammunition, a police source close to the investigation said.
A raid of the jobless man's home in the Kai Ching public housing estate threw up two handguns, 43 rounds of ammunitions and three holsters, apart from six bullets fired in the fracas.
"His former wife told officers he worked at the gambling den in the wholesale fruit market from 2005 to 2010," the source said.
Li liked gambling, he said, and was a delivery worker in the market, though there was no evidence to suggest he was a triad member. The gambling den is understood to be run by 14K, the most active gang in that market.
Li is thought to have killed a neighbour on Saturday night before turning the gun on himself 12 hours later as elite officers used explosives, tear gas and stun grenades to storm his flat in Lok Ching House.