A Man Brandishing a Knife Took a Female Passerby Hostage at Tuen Mun Town Plaza, Police Arrived at the Scene and Fired Shots to Subdue Him

The Police received a report at approximately 7:10 pm on January 15, stating that a suspicious man had taken a knife from a shop in Tuen Mun Town Plaza. Promptly arriving at the scene, the Police found the man holding a 12-inch knife on Tuen Wui Street outside the Plaza. At the time, the man was waving the knife at several passersby, causing panic and prompting the public to flee.

The man took a knife from a shop in Tuen Mun Town Plaza. Photo source: Threads@oliviachows

The man held a 12-inch knife on Tuen Wui Street outside Tuen Mun Town Plaza, Photo source: online image

The man waved the knife at several passersby, causing panic and prompting the public to flee. Photo source: online image

Ms. Chung Lai Yee, the Senior Superintendent of Police from Crime New Territories North Headquarters, stated that the Police immediately issued verbal warnings to the man, but to no avail. They then fired pepper spray at him, but the man entered Tuen Mun Town Plaza through an entrance and quickly exited through another. As he exited, he grabbed a female passerby hostage and simultaneously attacked her with the knife he was holding.

Ms. Chung Lai Yee, the Senior Superintendent of Police from Crime New Territories North Headquarters, Photo source: FB of the Hong Kong Police

Ms. Chung mentioned that the Police issued warnings to the man again, but to no avail repeatedly. Two officers of the Emergency Unit each fired a shot at the man. The man fell to the ground after being shot and was immediately subdued by the Police. Immediately rescuing the female hostage, the Police provided first aid to the man, who was then sent to Tuen Mun Hospital for further treatment. The man was pronounced dead at 8:40 pm after resuscitation efforts failed, while the female passerby was also taken to the hospital for treatment with injuries.

Two officers of the Emergency Unit each fired a shot at the man. Photo source: online image

Two officers of the Emergency Unit each fired a shot at the man. Photo source: on-site CCTV

Ms. Chung stated that police subsequently found a packet of suspected dangerous drugs and an extendable baton in the man's shoulder bag. Doctors have found a bullet in the man's body, with gunshot wounds to the chest and right shoulder. The female hostage sustained minor injuries. The Police also searched the scene, finding a bullet hole and two shell casings in the exterior wall of a shop at the shooting location.

Ms. Chung said that according to preliminary investigations, the deceased is a 34-year-old local man holding a Hong Kong identity card, with underworld connections and a previous drug-related criminal conviction. As for the case, the Police reviewed numerous CCTV clips and found no accomplices with him. Drugs were found on the man, raising the possibility that he may have been under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack. The case is currently being followed up by Team 2 of the Regional Crime Unit of New Territories North for further investigation.

Mr. Wong Ho Hon, the Deputy District Commander of Tuen Mun, Photo source: FB of the Hong Kong Police

Mr. Wong Ho Hon, the Deputy District Commander of Tuen Mun, stated that the Police have stringent guidelines regarding the use of firearms. Given the seriousness of the incident, the officers of the Emergency Unit New Territories North opted for immediate tactical intervention. The actions of the two officers fully complied with the Police's requirements for the use of firearms, using them only when there were no other options. Mr. Wong pointed out that the Police undergo rigorous training, making the use of firearms always aimed at the largest part of ​​the body. In this case, both shots did strike the largest part of the body. Moreover, Mr. Wong emphasized that using firearms is an extremely difficult decision for the Police, based on the purpose to save the life of an innocent passerby this time.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insisted in court on Thursday that newly unsealed torture allegations against him and his wife were “false accusations.”

Maduro and Cilia Flores, both shackled at the ankles, were brought to court to face a rewritten indictment that expands from an initial set of drug trafficking charges to accuse them of leading a state-sponsored repression campaign that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans.

Maduro twice defied a judge’s request that he enter a plea to the charges, instead condemning them through a courtroom interpreter as “false accusations and false testimony.” Irked, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein took matters into his own hands, interjecting that “a plea of not guilty will be entered on behalf of Mr. Maduro.”

Flores was less combative. After saying that she’d read through a version of the new indictment written in Spanish, she told the judge through the Spanish interpreter: “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”

They were seized from their Caracas home by the U.S. military in a nighttime raid in January. Their trial will begin June 14, 2027, two weeks later than previously set, according to a schedule approved by the judge Thursday.

As they have in the past, Maduro and Flores listened to the proceedings through headphones carrying the voice of a courtroom translator. At times, the bespectacled Maduro looked through papers in front of him.

When they entered the courtroom, Maduro waved to people in the gallery and shook hands with one of his lawyers, Barry Pollack, while Flores gave a peck on the cheek to Mark Donnelly, one of her attorneys.

Pollack said when the charges were announced last week that Maduro, 63, denies them and “looks forward to his day in court.”

Pollack agreed with the government’s request to move the trial to June 14. He told Hellerstein the new schedule was “very aggressive” given the new allegations, but added that he’s hopeful they’ll be able to stick to it.

According to the rewritten indictment, Maduro oversaw a violent torture system that beat, asphyxiated, and delivered electric shocks to its victims. He is accused of personally recommending torture methods, receiving updates on specific victims’ treatment, and threatening to kill one prisoner’s child as a form of psychological torture.

Flores, 70, a former attorney general, helped develop the repressive system and ordered the torture of some specific people, the indictment alleges.

Maduro, who served as Venezuela’s president from 2013 until his capture in January, has been under investigation for years by the International Criminal Court over allegations of crimes against humanity, tied to his crackdown on opponents. He has always denied wrongdoing.

Torture is a crime under international law and can be prosecuted outside of the nation where the abuse occurred and regardless of the victims' nationality. But the prosecution of foreign officials in the U.S. is exceedingly rare, having been tried only a few times, including against the son of Liberian President Charles Taylor, Russians responsible for war crimes in Ukraine and a former prison warden in Bashar Assad’s Syria.

Earlier this year, Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty in the U.S. drug case, which said they conspired to flood the U.S. with cocaine. Their attorneys say the case should be dismissed on immunity grounds because they were the leader and first lady of a foreign country.

The revised indictment covers allegations of torture stretching back to Maduro’s ascent to power in 2013, when he took over as president from his mentor Hugo Chávez, who died of cancer that year.

The couple was scheduled to return to the courtroom for another pretrial hearing on Dec. 17.

Associated Press Writer Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.

A motorcade transporting former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro leaves federal court in New York, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Supporters of former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro hold signs and stand outside a federal courthouse in New York, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A motorcade transporting former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro leaves federal court in New York, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Police officers stand in from of a federal courthouse in New York, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores wave after his swearing-in ceremony for a third term at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)