Hong Kong shooting: second victim dies from injuries over HK$8 million apartment inheritance dispute
Uncle succumbs to gun wounds in hospital day after suspect met with relatives to discuss property at heart of family dispute
A second victim in the Quarry Bay shooting died of his wounds on Wednesday afternoon, as more details emerged revealing the dispute between the suspected killer and her elderly relatives centred on how to divide the proceeds of a sale of a HK$8 million (US$1 million) flat.
The 62-year-old uncle of suspect Ada Tsim Sum-kit died at 2.41pm at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan. An 80-year-old aunt died on Tuesday evening, three hours after the niece allegedly shot the four siblings at close range before making off in broad daylight at Quarry Bay Park.
“Initial information indicated the dispute began after the suspect’s mother died in 2015,” a police source said.
The apartment in question is on Nan Fung Sun Chuen housing estate, which is about 40 years old and in a largely middle-class neighbourhood in Quarry Bay.
Transaction records from Centaline Property showed a 516 sq ft flat earlier this year sold for HK$8.6 million and another flat of the same size sold for HK$7.9 million.
Tsim’s uncles and aunts were shot when their meeting broke up and the group were about to leave the park, the source said.
After the shooting, the suspect ran into nearby Cityplaza Four shopping centre, where she was intercepted by a security guard – a retired policeman – before officers from the Counter Terrorism Response Unit arrived.
Officers found a suspected Italian-made Beretta pistol on Tsim, who works as a bodyguard in mainland China. The source said there were five bullets in the magazine of the pistol and another 41 rounds of ammunition in a case found in Tsim’s rucksack.
Her 80-year-old aunt was shot in the head. She was declared dead at Eastern Hospital at about 6.30pm on Tuesday.
The condition of her 72-year-old uncle, who was shot in the left arm, improved from critical to serious, while her 60-year-old aunt, who was shot in the left shoulder, was in a stable condition.
Another source said four shots had been fired. Officers found four spent cartridges at the scene.
Shooting suspect claimed to be city’s first overseas-trained female bodyguard
On Tuesday night, the suspect was escorted back to her flat in Tseung Kwan O for a house search. Officers seized an air pistol and two model guns from the premises, but no real guns or bullets were found.
On Wednesday, Tsim was being held for questioning and had not been charged.
