Tower block murder suspect 'kills himself' after shooting drama leaves one other dead
Two members of the "Flying Tigers" police special duties are waiting to climb into the flat when several flashes and smoke are seen from inside the flat. Photo: Dickson Lee
A jobless ex-convict shot himself dead 12 hours after he was suspected to have killed an air-conditioning technician neighbour, in a drama that saw the firing of seven gunshots and 20 rounds of teargas and stun grenades in the Kowloon Bay public housing estate.
A police source told the South China Morning Post said mental illness was among their lines of investigation and they were probing more on the background of the gunman, Lee Tak-yan, 51, and whether he knew the victim, Li Kai-chung, 43. Both lived in Lok Ching House of Kai Ching Estate, which was only completed last August.
“At this stage, [a] mental problem is one of the possibilities” the source said, adding the gunman, who was later found to have possessed two guns at his flat, was released from jail last year for a non-triad related wounding case in 2011 in Tin Shui Wai.
Both Lee and Liu had a wife on the mainland. Liu, an air-conditioning technician, is survived by his wife in Zhuhai and a five-year-old son who lives with his sister in Hong Kong.
Drama unfolded around 11.20pm on Saturday night when residents of the Lok Ching House heard arguing followed by three gunshots and discovered the man dead on the 21st floor lift lobby.
Watch: Man believed to be suspect of Hong Kong tower block killing sent to hospital
The source told the Post that the CCTV footage showed the gunman taking the lift with Liu and other residents.
“CCTV footage showed they did not have any conversation inside the lift,” the source said.
Liu walked out onto the 21st floor and Lee followed. Residents called the police after hearing gunshots.
Police said an initial examination showed two shots hit Liu in the chest and one in his back. Three 7.62mm-calibre empty cartridges were found at the scene.
The source said the CCTV footage of the lift and security guards helped indentify the suspect. Lee was believed to have taken the staircase back to his 10th floor home as the footage did not show him taking the lift after the shootout.
“Special equipment was used to spy inside his flat to ensure that Lee was alone inside and no one was taken hostage,” the source said.
The police cordoned off the 10th floor in the morning and phoned residents there to stay indoors and lie on the ground.
Shortly before 11am, the suspect fired two shots at the police, who returned one shot. No one was hurt.
Lee then clambered onto a window ledge and pointed a gun at his own head for less than one minute, as more than 150 officers wearing body armour surrounded the building.
A fourth gunshot was heard from the flat at around 11.13am.
Smoke and sparks were seen as officers fired over 20 rounds of teargas and stun grenades to break into the flat about 30 minutes later. A pair of ’Flying Tigers’ special duties officers slid down ropes from a flat above and entered the apartment.
The suspect was found lying unconscious in the flat, and was then rushed to the United Christian Hospital where he was declared dead.
Watch: Police ask reporters to take cover after fresh gunshots heard in Hong Kong Tower
Police believe Lee killed himself with a 7.62 calibre pistol, which is believed to be different from the one he suspected to have used to kill Liu as the bullets found were of different length.
Lee was released from prison in 2012 and moved into the Kai Ching estate last August. He had divorced his first wife and remarried, with his current wife living in China. He had no previous record of psychiatric illness.
All residents entering and leaving the building were searched by police officers in the lobby on Sunday morning.
"Do I need to get myself one of those bulletproof vests too?" asked one resident, surnamed Chan, when told by neighbours that the assailant may still be hiding in the building.
The 67-year-old who lives on 33/F said he had not heard any gunshots last night and thought the Kai Ching Estate was a safe neighbourhood.
When asked whether the police had taken enough precaution in re-opening the building on Sunday morning allowing residents to enter and leave, Chau said: “When we confirmed which floor the suspect was living in, we closed all passages to that floor. It was safe for other residents to go freely in and out [of the building].”
One resident of the building said he had heard the voices of quarelling men both before and after last night’s shooting.
Liu lived alone in a flat on the floor where he was found.
He moved in last December, said Chau. Police officers found nothing illegal in his flat and nothing is believed to have been taken. He is not thought to have had a triad background.
“We so far believe and suspect that the incident may be related to his background and whether he had contracted any enmity. We are investigating in this direction,” said Chau.
He added that police were also looking into whether the shooting may be related to his work or whether he had committed any crime.
One male resident who had children said he was very scared. “I heard quarrelling noises, they were very loud and were still shouting after the gunshots.”
Another man living nearby said, “I heard three shots – bang, bang, bang… I think they were around two to three minutes apart.”
Residents of the public housing estate complained that they had not been kept informed about the incident.
A resident who lives on the eleventh floor, one story above the gunshot scene, said police gave no information to them about the operation.
"I heard officers walking and talking outside my house this morning," said the man surnamed Lau, who moved into the block in November. "But I've received no calls so far from [the police] to tell me to stay at home whatsoever."
He said he received information from TV news.
He lived in the flat with his wife and daughter and said he didn't know his neighbours, but public security of the block was generally "acceptable".
Another resident, 24-year-old Sandy Lam Yung-yin who lives on the 30th floor, said no one had called her to tell her what to do.
"I called the estate management office and only got told to stay home. Many elderly people live next door and they didn't know what happened," she said.
Lam added that the public security of the block was sometimes unsatisfactory.
"There's sometimes only one security guard monitoring the whole building. When's he's away patrolling, the main entrance will be left unguarded," she said.
But she added that she has seen no suspicious people wandering around on the estate since she had moved in last November.
Many residents of Kai Ching Estate either live alone or are new immigrants from the mainland, said a resident surnamed Wong, who was among the first batch to move into the building last summer.
"We [local Hongkongers] are the minority here," she said. "Many residents here are very hot-tempered and I often hear noises downstairs when some swear loudly at night when they forget the door passcode."
Investigations by the Regional Anti-triad Unit of Kowloon East are under way. Police are calling on anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information to offer to contact the investigating officers on 2726 6272.
史明蘭（ CoCo）
孫秀敏（ BoBo）
謝巧元（琪琪）
