While residents of Hong Kong were protesting Tuesday against the official celebrations of China’s 70th anniversary, amateur videos and photos appeared online that showed the same incident: a protester shot at close range by a police officer. Two ballistics experts who examined the images told The FRANCE 24 Observers they show the officer used a live round. It is the first time Hong Kong police are known to have used live ammunition against protesters.
One video shows a young man dressed in black with a pink gas mask using a stick to strike a police officer in riot gear. The officer is holding a handgun in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He discharges the handgun with a visible flash of the muzzle, and the protester falls to the ground.
In a second video, the same demonstrator, identifiable by his clothes, is seen lying on the ground, speaking. "Take me to hospital, my chest hurts. I have to go to hospital…. My name is Tsang Tsz Kin,” he says, according to a translation provided by activists.
Other photos circulating on social media show medical teams giving assistance to the demonstrator. A wound is clearly visible on his upper left chest.
The FRANCE 24 Observers team contacted two ballistics experts via Twitter: Nick Waters, a senior investigator for the open-source investigation network Bellingcat, and a respected independent researcher who uses the handle @CalibreObscura on Twitter.
The two experts say the video and photo evidence shows that the officer fired a revolver with a live round containing a bullet, not a blank, at the demonstrator.
According to @CalibreObscura, the weapon seen in the first video appears to be a Smith and Wesson Model 10 revolver, a .38 Special calibre weapon used by police forces around the world.
The two experts say the video and photo evidence shows that the officer fired a revolver with a live round containing a bullet, not a blank, at the demonstrator.
According to @CalibreObscura, the weapon seen in the first video appears to be a Smith and Wesson Model 10 revolver, a .38 Special calibre weapon used by police forces around the world.
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