Anti-crime CCTV in Mong Kok help police arrest man carrying imitation gun

A 37-year-old man was arrested for possessing an imitation firearm as police facilitated the arrest by checking the footage recorded by the latest anti-crime CCTV cameras installed in Mong Kok just this month. 

Mong Kok district’s acting assistant commander for crime Patrick Tse Yu-ngai said police received multiple reports around 5 pm on Thursday that a man was seen suspectedly carrying a handgun at the junction between Argyle Street and Tung Choi Street and when running along Sai Yee Street. 

The West Kowloon emergency unit as well as the counter terrorism response unit were immediately called to the scene as the Mong Kok district crime squad launched an investigation. 

After intelligence analysis, police found that one of the reporting citizens had a debt dispute with the suspect. The suspect and two companions got out of a taxi at the junction between Argyle Street and Tung Choi Street and ran into the reporting citizen and his four other friends. 

An argument erupted between the two sides and soon escalated into a chase, during which the suspect displayed a gun-like object three times. 

Upon checking the footage of the CCTV installed in the district just this month, police successfully identified the suspect and his two companions and their escape routes. 

Police subsequently arrested the 37-year-old suspect for possessing an imitation firearm and another 37-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman for abetting in possession of an imitation firearm. 

According to sources, the arrestees are affiliated with triad society Wo Shing Wo. The trio are currently remanded in custody and the investigation by the Mong Kok district crime squad is ongoing. 

Police preliminarily believe that the gun-like object is a toy gun but its ability will have to be determined by an expert. 

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