Las Vegas Man Charged In Chinese Consulate Shooting
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A 67-year-old Las Vegas man was charged Monday with firing shots at the Chinese Consulate in Koreatown, allegedly as part of a protest against alleged human-rights abuses in China.
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Jeff Baoliang Zhang was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm and shooting at an inhabited dwelling in connection with Thursday's shooting, Deputy District Attorney John Gilligan said.
A judge set Zhang's bail at $400,000, and his arraignment was postponed until Tuesday.
The shooting occurred at the consulate in the 400 block of Shatto Place, near Fourth Street, Thursday afternoon, prosecutors said. Zhang allegedly approached a guard and began firing rounds from a 9 mm handgun, striking the building.
No one was injured.
LAPD spokesman Richard French said Zhang was "part of a small protest related to human rights in mainland China."
"Acting independently from the other protesters, he opened fire on the consulate building and then drove away in his car," French said.
If convicted, Zhang faces more than 20 years in state prison, prosecutors said.
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