Disturbing video shows Hong Kong cop shooting protester in the chest

A Hong Kong cop shot a protester in the chest with a live round Tuesday after demonstrators attacked his unit during clashes that coincided with a celebration by the territory’s Chinese rulers of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic.

“An officer discharged his firearm after coming under attack and a protester was struck in the chest in Tsuen Wan district today,” a police source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.

The stricken protester received first aid from police before paramedics arrived, the source said, adding that the victim was rushed to Princess Margaret Hospital.

A Hospital Authority spokeswoman told AFP that 15 people had been admitted to hospitals following Tuesday’s clashes, one of whom was in critical condition at Princess Margaret.

She would not confirm if that patient was the person who had been shot.

Two videos shared online showed several riot police officers clashing with a dozen masked protesters, some of whom were using umbrellas and metal poles to strike the cops.

One officer with his sidearm drawn was seen kicking a protester before firing at nearly point-blank range into the chest of a protester brandishing a metal pole.

A gunshot was heard as the protester stumbled backward and fell over a police officer who had been knocked to the ground as the rest of the demonstrators fled.

A second video — captured by Hong Kong University’s Campus TV — showed the same incident from a different vantage point, according to AFP.

Footage filmed by local broadcaster Stand News also showed officers treating the bloodied but conscious man, who had an oxygen mask on his face.

Meanwhile, riot police fired water cannons and volleys of tear gas to disperse demonstrators who lobbed Molotov cocktails outside the central offices in the Admiralty area, while the violence also mounted across the harbor in Kowloon and beyond in the New Territories, Reuters reported.

Authorities said “rioters” had used corrosive fluid in Tuen Mun in the west of the New Territories, “injuring multiple police officers and reporters.” No details were immediately available.

Nearly four months of clashes have plunged the former British colony into its biggest political crisis in decades, posing the most serious popular challenge to President Xi Jinping since he came to power.

Watch Video of the officer shooting protester in the chest HERE