Man opens fire at LA Chinese consulate, kills himself

[August 02, 2017]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man opened fire at the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, then took his own life in his nearby car, police said.

There were no other injuries in the shooting, which took place at about 6 a.m. before the consulate was open for the day, said Officer Michael Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department.

"Numerous rounds impacted the Chinese consulate," Lopez said.

Lopez said the man was discovered in his car dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Chinese consulate, in a short statement, said it was extremely concerned about the incident and had asked the United States to take all necessary measures to protect the security of the building and diplomats working there.

China has also asked the United States to get to the bottom of what had happened, it added.

Authorities did not immediately identify the gunman and had few other details about the incident. Lopez said police did not typically release information about suicides.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the gunman was in his 60s and possibly of Asian appearance, according to consulate officials who cited police.

The report also cited consulate security staff as saying the gunman fired his weapon at least 17 times, leaving bullet holes in the windows and facade of the consulate building.

In 2011 a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China was arrested after police said he opened fire at the same building with a handgun. There were no injuries in that incident.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Philip Wen in BEIJING; Editing by Michael Perry and Tom Hogue)

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