Just another manic Monday: violence, police chase at CityU

Loud music, physical assaults, theft and a police chase kicked off Monday morning for City University of Hong Kong (CityU) students in the campus' canteen and library.

CityU experienced a significant disruption Monday morning when a man playing loud music in the canteen sparked a series of violent incidents. Patrons expressed their dissatisfaction, and when one diner politely asked the man to lower the volume, he responded aggressively, striking the requester in the face.

The situation worsened when another individual tried to intervene, only to be punched in the nose, causing severe bleeding. The assailant then escalated his attack by using a chair to knock down the first victim. Amid the chaos, he also snatched a backpack containing nearly HK$1,000 in cash and credit cards from another diner and fled into the university library.

Police officers equipped with shields quickly arrived on the scene and chased the suspect through the library. The pursuit was fraught with challenges as the man managed to overpower two officers, throwing one to the ground and pushing away the other. He was ultimately subdued after the officers used pepper spray.

Footage captured at the scene shows the stocky man, wearing a torn white shirt, attempting to evade police inside the library. 

It is understood that the arrested student, surnamed Wang and known to be an international student who speaks Mandarin, was arrested under suspicion of multiple offenses. These include criminal damage, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, theft, assaulting a police officer, and obstructing a police officer in the execution of duties.

The police recovered several missing items from Wang, and the case is currently being handled by the Sham Shui Po police district.

The incident resulted in injuries to five individuals. A female researcher surnamed Wong, sustained an injury to her left forearm. The canteen manager suffered a nosebleed, a sergeant experienced chest pain, and two other police officers were injured, one sustaining facial injuries and the other injuries to the back of the head and right index finger.

(Prashan Limbu)

(Updated 2.03pm)