San Francisco police fatally shot a man after he crashed his vehicle into the Chinese consulate in the city, officials said on Monday.
At least one person was fatally shot after the car drove through the consulate visa office and remained in the building, reported KTVU.
Witness Sergii Molchanov told The San Francisco Standard that the driver shouted “Where’s the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)?” as he got out of a blue Honda car.
The incident occurred shortly after 3pm when an unidentified suspect drove their car into the visa office of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China, located at Laguna Street and Geary Boulevard.
“I don’t know how many people were inside the visa office at the time of the collision,” San Francisco police department spokesperson Sergeant Kathryn Winters told reporters.
“When officers arrived here on scene, they found the vehicle had come to rest inside the lobby of the Chinese Consulate. Officers entered, made contact with the suspect and an officer-involved shooting occurred,” Sgt Winters said.
“The suspect was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. This is an open and active investigation.”
Earlier witnesses told media outlets that multiple gunshots had been fired in the Monday afternoon incident and that a bloodied man was loaded into an ambulance and driven from the scene.
No one else was reported as injured in the incident.
Police advised people on social media to avoid the area.
**AVOID THE AREA**
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) October 9, 2023
Please avoid the area of Laguna St and Geary Blvd due to ongoing police activity. A PIO is en-route to the location now. Media staging will be published shortly.
Details will be provided as they become available. pic.twitter.com/ZgJRyfByOa
The Chinese diplomatic post in San Francisco issued a statement saying an “unidentified person drove violently into the document hall of the consulate, posing a serious threat to the safety of the staff and people at the scene, and causing serious damage to the facilities and property of the consulate”.
The consulate added that it “strongly condemns this violent attack and reserves the right to pursue responsibility for the incident”.
The US state department, meanwhile, has not yet responded to the incident.
The entrance to the visa office remained covered in a white plastic sheet later on Monday evening, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China is on a major street near the California city’s Japantown neighbourhood.
The incident took place a month before Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting in the city.
