Tsui Po-ko

Hong Kong police officer and mass murderer

Tsui Po ko (17 May 1970 – 17 March 2006) was a Police Constable of the Hong Kong Police Force, bank robber and serial killer. He is one of Hong Kong's most known serial killers. He was killed during an ambush on two Police Constables in a Tsim Sha Tsui subway which led to a shootout. The inquest into the events leading up to his death aroused great interest in Hong Kong, as it unravelled a string of intriguing events, and revealed the secret life of a policeman with a delusional state of mind. On 25 April 2007, the five person jury in the coroner's court unanimously decided that Tsui was responsible for injuring one and killing two fellow police officers and a bank security guard, on three separate occasions. The jury returned a verdict that he had been "lawfully killed" by fellow officer Tsang Kwok hang in a shootout. The inquest lasted 36 days, one of the longest ever inquests in Hong Kong. Assistant Police Commissioner John Lee said that this was "an exceptional case",

In March 2001, Tsui murdered constable Leung Shing yan and stole his revolver. His final radio call was received at 12:25 when he reported that he had arrived at the flat and nobody was responding to his knocks. Leung took three bullets in the head and two in the back at Flat 552, Shek To House Block B. Later, forensic tests found that the DNA on a mask left at the crime scene matched Tsui's. Leung is survived by his parents and a younger brother and sister. In 2002, he was posthumously awarded the Medal for Bravery (Silver) in recognition of his courage and "gallantry of an extremely high order". The perpetrator was described as a man with short hair and about 1.8 m tall, whom Assistant Police Commissioner Yam described as a "calm, cold blooded and brutal robber". A HK$2 million reward was issued. Immediately following the robbery the police noted that the murder weapon appeared to be a police service revolver. A red T shirt carrying a similar distinctive logo as captured on CCTV was found at Tsui's home after his death. The T shirt, bearing the logo of the Yinchuan International Motor cycle Travel Festival was a gift to Tsui by the club secretary during his visit to the show in 2000. An expert witness identified the T shirt as having been worn inside out during the robbery. Forensic ballistics later identified the gun used in the robbery as the police service revolver taken from police officer Leung Shing yan in 2001.

An investigation by the Criminal Intelligence Bureau into Tsui's financial status from January 2000 to March 2006 revealed he had a total of 19 personal banking and investment accounts hidden from his wife, the total assets of which amounted to a total of HK$2,977,513. Seven personal and 12 investment accounts were opened under his name around mid February in 2002 using a friend's address. Between February 2002 and October 2004, Tsui deposited HK$557,718 into the 19 accounts. All transactions were in cash. On 17 March 2006, 28 year old Constable Wilson Sin Ka keung and 33 year old Constable Tsang Kwok hang were ambushed by Tsui while on patrol in the pedestrian subway connecting Austin Road and Canton Road between the areas of Tsim Sha Tsui and Kwun Chung. Constable Sin reported seeing Tsui lurking on the northern stairs of the subway and attempted to approach him. When the officers approached, Tsui fired upon both officers, striking Sin in the head and left leg and mortally wounding Tsang in the head. Sin and Tsang returned fire, with Sin missing 2 shots while Tsang hit Tsui with 5 shots to the torso and head, killing him after arrival at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Tsang would re holster his revolver and radio for help before succumbing to his wounds at the same hospital, while Sin would survive the incident. The revolver used by Tsui in the shootout was confirmed to be the service revolver taken from Constable Leung and used in the heist in 2001.