Mother of slain Tuen Mun knife suspect questions police use of two shots

The mother and female relative of the 34-year-old Vietnamese man shot dead by police after a knife incident in Tuen Mun expressed deep grief and questioned why officers fired twice to kill him.

The suspect, surnamed Bùi and holding a Hong Kong ID card, was shot twice by police yesterday evening after allegedly stealing a knife from a Donki snack stall kitchen, wandering the street waving it, and taking a woman hostage.

This morning at the mortuary, his mother and a female relative identified the body amid heavy weeping. 

The relative, speaking through tears, repeatedly highlighted the mother’s pain: she described the deceased as “very pure, polite, never argumentative,” and said no one understands “how it came to this.”

She stressed the mother’s heartbreak over the police response, saying the suspect likely held the knife to protect himself out of fear, and questioned why officers “deliberately killed him” with a second shot when one would have sufficed to stop him—“he was already limping and couldn’t move after the first shot.” 

She added, “My heart hurts so much… why shoot again to kill my son?”

The relative said the family has several children, relies on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, and the youngest son is still in Form Three, leaving the mother devastated and the family’s future uncertain with only social worker support. 

She insisted the man appeared normal during meals at home and showed no clear signs of mental illness.