A vehicle rammed into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco on Monday, coming to a stop in the lobby and creating a chaotic scene that ended with police fatally shooting the driver, officials said.
San Francisco police said they did not know why the unidentified driver smashed through the front of the consulate, located on a major street across from the city’s Japantown neighborhood.
In a statement, the consulate described the incident as a “violent attack.”
Photo: Sergii / via Reuters
Police descended on the consulate shortly after 3pm after a report of a vehicle crashing into the building and urged people to avoid the area. Video from the scene showed a blue Honda sedan inside the lobby of the consulate’s visa office.
Officers entered the building, made contact with the suspect and opened fire, San Francisco Police Sergeant Kathryn Winters said at a brief news conference. Despite “life-saving efforts,” the suspect died in hospital.
Police did not describe how the shooting unfolded, how many officers fired or if the driver had a weapon. There were no reports of any injured people inside the building.
Police were working and coordinating with investigators from the US Department of State and the Chinese consulate.
“I wish I could give you more, but this is a very complex investigation,” Winters said.
A statement from the Chinese consulate demanded more details about the incident and asked that it be “dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.”
“Our embassy severely condemns this violent attack,” it said.
The San Francisco consulate has been targeted a number of times before. Among the most serious was a fire set by a Chinese man on New Year’s Day 2014 at the main entrance. It charred a section of the outside of the building.
The man, who was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, told authorities he was driven by voices he was hearing. He was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Monday’s incident comes as San Francisco prepares to host next month’s APEC summit, a gathering of world leaders from Pacific Rim nations. US President Joe Biden plans to attend, but it is not clear if Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) plans to do so.
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