United States police shot dead a driver who crashed into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, California on Monday.
San Francisco Police Department’s Sergeant Kathryn Winters told reporters an officer shot the suspect who rammed the visa office.
Officers, paramedics and medics had tried to save the suspect’s life, but the person was pronounced dead at the hospital some time later, Winters said, adding the police could give no details about the suspect’s identity.
The local ABC7 News channel said its crews had seen a man covered in blood and apparently unresponsive being taken away from the scene.
The US State Department and the SFPD are jointly investigating the incident, she added.
A spokesperson for the consulate said the suspect had driven “violently into our consulate’s administration hall, posing a serious threat to the lives of staff and people on-site and causing serious damage.”
“The Consulate has made solemn representations to the US side, requesting a prompt investigation into the truth and a serious punishment in accordance with the law,” the spokesperson added.
San Francisco is home to a large number of ethnic Chinese residents, including many from Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing considers a renegade province and has vowed to one day control.