Driver fatally shot by police after crashing car into Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
Police in San Francisco shot dead a person accused of ramming a car into the Chinese Consulate on Monday afternoon, according to local officials.
Officers responding to the scene found that the vehicle had come to a stop inside the lobby of the consulate. Witness video and local TV footage showed a blue Honda sedan with California plates inside the building, with people fleeing out a nearby door.
Police encountered the driver and opened fire, an officer said during a San Francisco Police Department news conference Monday.
The individual died after being transported to a hospital, the official said.
Witnesses said the man who climbed onto the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel claimed he was carrying a bomb, according to police officials.
In a statement, a spokesman for the consulate said the Chinese government was “demanding that the truth be quickly ascertained and dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.”
Officials said an investigation was being conducted with the help of the U.S. State Department but didn’t immediately provide additional details.
Although it’s unclear whether Monday’s crash was intentional, the consulate has previously been a target. On New Year’s Day 2014, two buckets of gasoline were dumped on the front entrance of the building and set ablaze.
Last week residents in the Bay Area reported web-like clumps hanging from trees, a process scientists say are likely caused by baby spiders dispersing.
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