Office Workers Flee as Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas in Central Business District

Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who gathered at lunch time in Central after the shooting of a protester inflamed tensions amid citywide efforts to disrupt business and transportation in the Asian financial center.

Television footage showed people flocking into the Landmark Mall downtown to get away from the tear gas. Protesters helped bystanders wash out their eyes with bottles of water.

The shooting occurred during a scuffle in an intersection in the Sai Wan Ho area, as activists tried to block rush hour traffic ahead of the workweek. While police initially said two protesters were struck by bullets in the melee, they revised their count after the city’s Hospital Authority said only one person was being treated for a gunshot wound.

As police clashed with protesters across the city Monday, the local railway operator suspended parts of some lines and most universities canceled classes. The flare-up comes after a weekend of sporadic protests and rallies following the death of a student who fell from a parking garage amid a police dispersal operation last week -- the first death directly tied to police action in the ongoing protests.

The historic unrest, which has dragged on for five months, began after the government proposed now-withdrawn legislation that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The movement has since expanded to call for greater democratic accountability, as well as an independent inquiry into the violence.

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