Hong Kong third wave: police officer draws gun on cleaver-wielding man who flouted coronavirus mask rule on bus
- A group of six officers caught and arrested the 47-year-old after a foot chase, with one using pepper spray
- The incident began aboard a KMB bus in the city’s Tai Po area at about 3pm
A Hong Kong police officer drew his gun and a colleague fired pepper spray while disarming a cleaver-wielding bus passenger who wasn’t complying with a new rule that masks be worn on public transport.
The passenger boarded a KMB bus at the Tai Po Centre terminus at about 3pm on Friday but pulled down his surgical mask after getting on, a bus company spokesman said.
Passengers and the driver urged him to put on his mask, but he ignored them, instead producing the kitchen cleaver and making threatening remarks, leading a terminus supervisor to call police.
The 47-year-old fled on foot but was located by police on a footbridge on Tai Po Tai Wo Road, where he was still holding the 13cm cleaver. The officer drew his gun as a precaution after the man ignored verbal warnings, a police spokesman said. He then ran off again while officers gave chase.
In a widely circulated video clip, an officer in a group of six can be seen pepper-spraying the armed man during an encounter at a public rest area on Nam Wan Road, as the other officer points his gun at him.