A knife attack at a “Lennon Wall” message board in Tseung Kwan O has left three wounded, with a 26-year-old woman in critical condition.
The attack took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with an unidentified assailant reportedly stabbing people after hearing about their political views.
The 26-year-old woman surnamed Wong, who recently resigned from her job as a reporter at the Hong Kong Economic Journal, suffered cuts to her head, neck and back.
The second victim, a 24-year-old man, was wounded in the head and left arm, while a 35-year-old woman sustained injuries on her arm and leg.
Police confirmed at their daily briefing that the suspect has been arrested while trying to cross the border at Lo Wu, though they did not clarify where he was travelling to.
Lawmaker Roy Kwong has criticised the police response to the incident, saying that the officers were not proactive enough in gathering evidence. Kwong said that police did not ask to see the CCTV footage of a housing estate where the assailant was thought to have fled to after the attack.
Police said the attack took place around 1:30am at a pedestrian subway connecting Hau Tak Estate and King Lam Estate. The tunnel had turned into a colourful message board — known as a “Lennon Wall” — where people could post notes about the ongoing protests.
The male victim told Apple Daily that he was standing in the middle of the tunnel when he heard a verbal altercation getting louder. When he went to inspect it, he saw a man attacking the two women, and he was stabbed after he tried to intervene.
The assailant had visited the tunnel 20 minutes before the attack, the man added.
Another eyewitness said the assailant looked about 40 to 50 years old and was wearing blue clothes and jeans.
“He asked what our views were about the Lennon Wall. It started as a peaceful dialogue, but later they were discussing something, and he suddenly shouted ‘I can’t take it anymore,’” the eyewitness told Apple Daily.
A woman surnamed Chan, who was jogging past and filmed the scene on her phone, said that the two female victims were talking with the assailant before the attack.
“The women said, ‘What problems do you have with it?’ and the man replied, ‘I don’t think there is a problem,’” Chan recalled. The attack happened shortly afterwards.
The assailant reportedly fled to the nearby Chung Ming Court, a residential estate. CCTV footage that has surfaced online appeared to show the man changing into a red shirt and then fleeing the scene.
A cleaver was found on the subway floor, while police found another knife in a rubbish bin in Chung Ming Court.
Democratic Party lawmaker Roy Kwong, who arrived at the scene to help, said that residents also recovered a bloodied blue shirt in a rubbish bin on the 21st floor of the building.
One woman remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, while the other female victim is receiving treatment at Tseung Kwan O Hospital. The male victim was discharged on Tuesday.
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