[UPDATE; Tuesday, 4:24pm] At the daily police press conference, police say they have arrested one suspect at the Lo Wu border checkpoint in connection to the Tseung Kwan O Lennon Wall knife attack.
Three people were stabbed in a pedestrian underpass in Tseung Kwan O early on Tuesday morning, next to a Lennon Wall where protesters had left anti-government and pro-democracy messages.
The attack took place at around 1.30am on Tuesday in an underground footpath connecting King Lam Estate and Hau Tak Estate in Tseung Kwan O.
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A video circulating on social media shows a man in a blue shirt attacking three people with a knife in his hand, allegedly after hearing their views on the anti-government protests. According to the police, there was at least one attacker with a knife who injured two women and one man.
A witness, who claimed he was drinking with a few others near the wall at the time of the incident, said on a radio programme on Tuesday morning that a man in casual wear had approached them.
“He asked us what we thought about [the protests],” he said. “When we expressed our views, he said: ‘I can’t hold it any longer.’ Then he took out a knife from his pocket and stabbed my two friends.”
Another witness, surnamed Chan, told a local newspaper the two female victims were chatting when the assailant came up to them and joined the conversation. They talked about recent protests and political issues.
The women reportedly asked the man not to get too close because he was smoking a cigarette. Soon after, he took out a knife to attack them.
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A blue shirt with blood stains was found by residents in a rubbish bin on the same floor of Kar Ming House.
In a media briefing before the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor commented on the case, saying police would follow up and take it seriously.