Police officers fatally shot the driver of a vehicle that ploughed through the Chinese consulate in San Francisco and into the lobby of the building’s visa office on Monday, city police said.
Official details of the incident were sketchy, and police said the identity of the motorist and what precipitated the crash were not yet known.
There was no mention of anyone else being injured in the incident.
“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 at a news briefing hours later.
“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,” Winters said. “The suspect was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. This is an open and active investigation.”
Police are co-ordinating with investigators from the US State Department, she said, adding: “There’s very little information that we can give at this time.”
The Chinese diplomatic post in San Francisco issued a statement saying that 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 went on to say that it “strongly condemns this violent attack and reserves the right to pursue responsibility for the incident”.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the individual drove violently into the lobby of the Chinese Consulate-General “in an attempt to kill the people at the scene and the staff”.
“China strongly urges the United States to conduct a prompt investigation” and take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomatic institutions and personnel, said Wang Wenbin during a regular media press briefing yesterday.
The consulate said it would temporarily close its consular certificate hall from October 10, in a statement released on its WeChat account.
The consulate said it would inform the public when services will resume.
The State Department said it was in touch with its counterparts in China, which had said it made “solemn representations” to Washington and urged “serious punishment” over the attack.
“We are committed to addressing this issue, consistent with our obligations under the Vienna Conventions relating to safety and security of diplomatic facilities and personnel,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We condemn all violence perpetrated against foreign diplomatic staff working in the United States.”
Officers are seen outside the visa office of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where a vehicle crashed into the building earlier.
