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Hong Kong police stormed into Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Monday after an all-night standoff with protesters, with police threatening to use live ammunition against protesters in the face of barrages of Molotov cocktails from demonstrators who have occupied a university campus. While three protesters have been shot during the 24 weeks of protests so far, this is the first time in the crisis the police have issued the stark warning. "If they (protesters) continue such dangerous actions, we would have no choice but to use minimum force, including live rounds," said police spokesman Louis Lau during a Facebook live broadcast. The president of the Poly U Professor Ten Jin Huang released a statement saying: "I have been communicating closely with the police since last evening. We have now received the assurance of police of a temporary suspension of the use of force, under the condition that if the protesters do not initiate the use of force, police will not initiate the use of force. "In addition, we have received permission from the police for you to leave the campus peacefully and I will personally accompany you to the police station to ensure that your case will be fairly processed, " he continued. An anti-government protester is silhoutted at the entrance to Hong Kong Polytechnic University Credit: Tyrone Siu/Reuters "For students from Poly U, our office of counselling and wellness will provide you with counselling and all the necessary support to help you during this difficult time. I hope that you will accept the proposed temporary suspension of force and leave the campus in a peaceful manner." The warning came after a Hong Kong police officer was shot in the leg with an arrow fired by protesters during a day-long tear-gas and petrol-bomb fuelled standoff between anti-government protesters and police. Police on Monday morning had surrounded the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to prevent protesters from escaping as they move in. Photographs of the injured officer were posted on the Hong Kong Police’s Facebook page, showing the arrow sticking out of the officer's lower leg. An officer was hit in the calf by an arrow fired by protesters outside the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Hong Kong Police Force Police confirmed that the man hit was a media liaison officer, who often join police lines acting as a buffer for the press in the protests. On Sunday afternoon, police deployed water cannons and armoured vehicles, which broke through blockades strewn with bricks and nails and dispersed protesters with bursts of blue dye laced with pepper spray. Protesters retreated back towards the campus, blocking projectiles and tear gas with umbrellas and makeshift shields. There are estimated to be 200 protesters barricaded inside the university. Meanwhile, on the roof of the university, protesters fired arrows and catapults with flaming projectiles towards police lines. Warning shots were reportedly fired by police and tear gas was still being launched towards the university at 4am local time after an ultimatum for students to surrender expired, as tensions showed no sign of easing. Anti-government protesters were hosed down inside the campus by volunteer medics Credit: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images The university is near the Hung Hom cross-harbour tunnel, a 10-lane thoroughfare between the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island. The crossing has been a key target for protesters, who have vandalised the toll booths at the crossing, shutting down the crucial transport tunnel for more than five days. Protesters on Sunday night also set fire to a footbridge overlooking the cross-harbour tunnel, causing a large explosion. The university is stockpiled with Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs, many which were strewn on the footbridges in anticipation for a police assault. University campuses have been the latest battlegrounds of fierce clashes between protesters and police, with multiple campuses across Hong Kong vandalised and barricaded by protesters dressed in black, who say they are defending the universities from the police. The Polytechnic University is the last remaining campus in Hong Kong still held by protesters, while the others that were once occupied have been largely abandoned. An armoured police truck burns after being hit with Molotov cocktails, Credit: REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Speaking on Sunday afternoon, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Foreign Secretary, urged restraint from Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's Chief Executive, and protesters. “Hong Kong’s Chief Executive has the responsibility to do everything possible to prevent a massacre. She must order the police to exercise restraint and not to use live ammunition or other forms of lethal force," he said. "A bloodbath on a Hong Kong campus would be devastating for Hong Kong as a whole. I also urge those students who have engaged in violence to stop. I condemn violence on all sides and I call on both sides to show restraint and pull back from the brink.” Read More | Hong Kong crisis The Hong Kong Education Bureau announced that primary and secondary schools will stay closed on Monday across the city, citing safety concerns. The protests initially began with the demand to withdraw a now-shelved extradition bill, which pro-democracy figures feared was a sign of increasing control being exerted on Hong Kong from Beijing and the Chinese central government. The unrest and protests has since evolved into calls for greater democratic reforms and an independent investigation into police violence.
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