Man fires gunshots, kills himself outside Chinese consulate in Los Angeles
Staff from the Coroners office remove the body from the front of the Chinese Consulate (R) after a man of Chinese descent fired several shots at the consulate building then committed suicide near its entrance, in Los Angeles, California, on August 1, 2017.
The man who fired gunshots outside the Chinese Consulate General here has not been identified, consulate officials said Tuesday night.
The report saying that the shooter is a Chinese is "just a speculation," a consulate official told Xinhua, adding that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was investigating the incident and would ascertain the gunman's background in the next one or two days.
The gunman, in his 60s, was found dead in his vehicle parked 20 meters away from the consulate office building, according to a statement read by a local police officer to Xinhua.
Policemen found a bullet wound on the chin of the man, who appeared to be Asian, saying he may have committed suicide. The shooting, reported to 911 between 6:00 a.m.(1300 GMT) to 6:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), did not injure anyone else.
The shooting resulted in six bullet holes on the building of the consulate, Xinhua found. A witness at the scene told Xinhua the gunman fired 17 bullets before killing himself in his car.
It was not immediately clear if the gunman had any political motive, local media cited a police source as saying.
The consulate general expressed serious concerns about the shooting incident and urged U.S. authorities to take necessary measures to protect the safety of the consulate office building as well as diplomatic staff, according to a press release on its official website.
Another official from the consulate told Xinhua that the consulate opened to the public Tuesday as usual.
