HONG KONG — The battle for Hong Kong's democracy has taken to new heights as a police officer was shot by an arrow during a siege of Hong Kong's Polytechnic University campus in Hung Hom, Kowloon.
On Sunday, the pro-democracy protesters on campus rained Molotov cocktails down on riot police and their vehicles in one of the longest days of fighting since the demonstrations began nearly six months ago.
Police retaliated by pummeling front-line protesters with rounds of tear gas and water cannons.
According to the Hong Kong Free Press, during the skirmish, a member of the police's media liaison team, who are typically dressed in blue vests, was "struck in the calf by an arrow" at around 2 pm.
Police took to Facebook to warn protesters that if they continued to use petrol bombs and bows and arrows, they would respond by using minimum force and, given no other choice, live rounds.
Worryingly, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University issued a statement announcing that, "dangerous chemicals" had been stolen from laboratories and that they scolded the protesters for "damaging the campus."
Furthermore, for the first time, the Hong Kong police deployed a Long Range Acoustic Device mounted on an armored truck that emits high-pitched noises.
According to The City Broadcasting Channel, a news outlet run by students from the City University of Hong Kong, the sonic device was used for, "about three seconds" at around 2:20 pm and caused slight discomfort to its reporter.
According to a police statement, the man shot by the arrow is conscious and was sent to the hospital for treatment.
