According to information from witnesses, the working group of the Traffic Police of Tuyen Quang City, while on duty, had an argument with a young man, then gunshots rang out, and the young man fell onto the street.

Young man injured in the head after being suppressed by police officer using rubber bullet gun - Photo cut from clip

On July 2, Tuyen Quang Provincial Police announced that they had initial results of the investigation into the incident in which a traffic police officer from Tuyen Quang City Police used a rubber bullet gun to shoot a young man in the head, injuring him.

The reason is that this young man showed signs of resistance that endangered the officers on duty.

Earlier that morning, a video was posted on several social media sites showing a young man injured after arguing with a traffic police officer. According to the footage, the young man was injured in the head, the wound was suspected to be caused by a gunshot.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre over the phone, Colonel Pham Van Giap, deputy director of Tuyen Quang Provincial Police, said the incident occurred on June 30.

According to the verification results, the police officer of the Traffic Police Department of Tuyen Quang City used a rubber bullet gun to suppress the protester, injuring him, not a military weapon as reported on some social networking sites.

The incident happened when the police team spotted a man violating traffic laws and signaled him to stop for inspection. However, the man said he had borrowed the car and called the owner out.

The car owner, a young man, came out and demanded to take the car back instead of letting the working group work and showed many signs of resistance.

"According to the verification results, the young man bit the police officer's hand, so the task force had to use professional measures to suppress him," said Mr. Giap.

According to Mr. Giap, Tuyen Quang Provincial Police have asked soldiers who shot rubber bullets at protesters to make a report and temporarily not assign them to work outside, and to coordinate with the investigation agency to clarify the incident.

“The provincial police board will investigate the extent of the incident and whether the officers and soldiers have exercised their authority properly. The suppression of protesters is correct, but the extent of the suppression must be clarified. If there are any violations, they will be dealt with,” Mr. Giap affirmed.

The young man was taken to hospital with a head injury. According to information from Tuyen Quang Provincial Police, the injury is not life-threatening.

According to TTO