Knife scare at Hong Kong immigration headquarters activates police’s anti-terrorism unit, suspect arrested after ‘allegedly flashing blade’
- Source says man had demanded to meet staff and displayed knife when asked to queue
- No evacuation was made and no injuries reported
Officers from Hong Kong police’s anti-terrorism unit were deployed to the Immigration Department headquarters on Tuesday after a 28-year-old man was suspected to have turned up at the venue with a knife in his bag.
A preliminary investigation showed the Somalian man had demanded to meet a staff officer at Immigration Tower in Wan Chai shortly before noon, according to a source familiar with the case.
“When he was asked to queue up, he allegedly displayed a knife inside his sling bag,” the source said.
According to the force, a security guard then called police.
Personnel from the Counter Terrorism Response Unit were among first responders to the scene. Other officers from the Emergency Unit were also activated.
The source said the man was arrested by officers from the Emergency Unit. Police said no casualties were reported and no evacuation was made.
A force spokesman said the man was detained on suspicion of criminal intimidation.
The suspect, who has been in the city for about 12 years, holds a recognisance form – temporary immigration papers allowing people to remain in the city but not work.
The source said the man was thought to have had a dispute with his wife over relationship and financial matters. He was suspected to have gone to the venue after learning his wife would also be there to collect her identity card.
He was still being held for questioning on Tuesday afternoon.
Police, in a separate case, were called to Un Chau Street Municipal Services Building in Sham Shui Po at about 2pm on Tuesday after a man walking around outside a toilet was seen carrying what appeared to be a handgun.
Officers traced a 58-year-old man in the area and found him in possession of a toy gun. He was arrested on suspicion of possession of an imitation firearm.
Imitation firearms in Hong Kong can refer to toy guns, air guns or guns used in war games. Possession of imitation firearms is punishable by up to seven years in jail under the Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance.
Police have increased patrols in busy areas following a recent string of violent incidents and knife crimes across the city.
A worker at a McDonald’s restaurant in Western district was on Sunday arrested on suspicion of attacking his manager with two knives.
Police said the attack occurred just after the suspect, 29, got into an argument with the manager over his job performance. The manager, 38, suffered a fractured skull and was left with 8cm and 10cm wounds on the back of his head and neck respectively.
A 27-year-old man was arrested last week after his former supervisor, 43, was slashed with a meat cleaver in an underpass connected to Choi Hung MTR station on June 7. Investigators said the woman, who suffered serious injuries to her arms and legs, had recently laid the man off.
Two women were stabbed to death at Plaza Hollywood shopping centre in Diamond Hill on June 2. A 39-year-old man has been charged with two counts of murder.
