The police said the man stabbed himself in the chest with a knife, and then died of his injuries after injuring a police officer.

The city’s security chief said on Friday that a 50-year-old man committed suicide after stabbing a Hong Kong policeman on Thursday. He was a politically “radicalized” “lone wolf” attacker.

A video recording of the attack on Thursday night was recorded in a live broadcast by a local reporter, showing a man wearing a dark T-shirt stabbing a policeman in the back of a shopping area in Causeway Bay.

According to the police, the man-whose identity has not been confirmed by the authorities-then stabbed himself in the chest with a knife and later died from his injuries.

The 28-year-old male police officer was punctured in his lungs and underwent surgery overnight.

“Preliminary investigations have shown that this is a lone wolf-style act of domestic terrorism,” Chris Tang, the former Commissioner of Police, who was promoted to chief of the Hong Kong Security Bureau last week, told reporters outside the hospital where the police officer was taken.

Tang said that the police later searched the attacker’s home and found material on his computer indicating that he had been “radicalized”, but he did not elaborate further.

Tang added: “It is not only the attackers who are responsible for this incident, but also many people who are accustomed to advocating violence, inciting hatred against the country, and glorifying these attacks — these violent acts.”

Deep polarization

Hong Kong has become a polarized city, and many residents are dissatisfied with Beijing’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

In 2019, large-scale and often violent democratic protests left the city in turmoil for months.

In response, China carried out extensive suppression of dissidents, implemented comprehensive national security laws on financial centers, and prosecuted prominent democracy activists.

The police led the crackdown.

[Recap] Man died after stabbing Hong Kong police officer and himself in Causeway Bayhttps://t.co/fJGDOl5fYB

— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) July 2, 2021

Thursday’s attack took place at the end of the day, as Hong Kong celebrated the anniversary of its transfer from the UK to China and Beijing’s leadership celebrated the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. Hong Kong deployed thousands of police officers to suppress any protests. Party.

The police closed the city’s Victoria Park and maintained a large presence in the nearby Causeway Bay, conducted multiple interceptions and searches, and arrested at least 19 people.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor returned from the centennial celebration in Beijing on Thursday night and said that she “strongly condemned” the attack on the police.