Sit-in at school of Hong Kong protester shot by police

Hundreds of Hong Kongers staged a sit-in on Wednesday outside the school of a protester who was shot by police as authorities said the wounded 18-year-old was now in a stable condition.

The international finance hub has been left reeling from the shooting, the first time a demonstrator has been struck with a live round in nearly four months of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests.

Hong Kong was battered by the most sustained political clashes of the year on Tuesday as China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule with a massive military parade in Beijing.

The spiralling violence underscored seething public anger against Beijing's rule and shifted the spotlight from China's carefully choreographed birthday party, which was designed to showcase its status as a global superpower.

Running battles raged for hours across multiple locations as hardcore protesters hurled rocks and petrol bombs. Police responded for the most part with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.

In Tsuen Wan district, a police officer fired his weapon at close range into the chest of Tsang Chi-kin, 18, as his unit was attacked by protesters armed with poles and umbrellas.

Police said the officer feared for his life on a day that saw his colleagues fire five warning shots from their pistols throughout the city.

"In this very short span of time, he made a decision and shot the assailant," police chief Stephen Lo said.

But protest groups said the officer charged into the melee with his firearm drawn and condemned the increasing use of live rounds.

"HK (has) fallen into a de facto police state," democracy activist Joshua Wong tweeted. "The paramilitary security forces completely took over this city."
But after Beijing and local leaders took a hardline they snowballed into a wider movement calling for democratic freedoms and police accountability. With Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam seemingly unwilling or unable to find a