Demands requesting the President to condemn the Police for allegedly delaying Chow’s medical assistance. 

1. The President has been deeply distressed about this incident. In addition to an email issued to the HKUST community on Nov 8, 2019, which demands a thorough and independent investigation, he has also enquired further with the Police and Fire Services Department (FSD) about video footage which showed an ambulance being blocked by Police cars, allegedly causing its delay in reaching Chow.
2. In a press briefing on Nov 8, 2019, the Police and FSD explained that the ambulance assigned to Chow was blocked by a traffic jam involving double-decker buses and private vehicles. As a result, three medical officers had to walk to the location and arrived on the scene 19 minutes after the ambulance call was received
3. The Police also issued a statement on Nov 9, 2019, stressing that the accusation that Police obstructed the ambulance and caused its delay was false and groundless.  The Police added that they have recommended a death inquest and will submit a report to the Coroner’s Court.  
4. The University has written to the Police and FSD, demanding an explanation for why the two other ambulances deployed in the area at that time were not re-deployed to Chow's assistance, given the original ambulance assigned for the mission had been obstructed. In a letter dated Dec 19, 2019, the FSD responded that the two ambulances had already been deployed to other cases.  
5. An internal portal was created by the University for all staff and students to submit information related to the case. The University received a number of submissions and published relevant entries via the portal. The University has anonymized and passed all relevant information received via the portal to the Police and FSD on Nov 18, 2019, to facilitate the investigation. 
6. In a Police’s letter to a district councilor published on its Facebook on May 15, 2020, they said they had submitted their progress report of the investigation into the death of Alex Chow to the Coroner’s Court, which had decided to hold an inquest.  
7. The University closely monitored the case’s development and had sent representatives to attend the hearing when it began on Nov 16, 2020.  After the seven-week inquest, the jury delivered an open verdict on the death of Alex Chow on Jan 9, 2021.  While the hearing could not clear all the doubts about the incident, a lot of new evidence were disclosed in the open and transparent legal proceeding, allowing the public to have more understanding about this case.  The passing of Alex is a tragedy.  The University maintained regular contact with Alex’s family to offer necessary assistance and care to their needs ever since the incident took place.  The University will uphold the humanistic spirit and continue to show support to the family.  

The University failed to address the criminal damage to Chow’s memorial on campus on Dec 3, 2019.

The University launched an investigation immediately following the incident. The University’s security team have collected witness statements, reviewed CCTV footage, as well as other evidence produced by third parties.  In the footage, a suspect was found to have concealed his identity intentionally with a cap and mask. However, due to limitations of the system in terms of coverage area and video quality during night-time environment, the camera was only able to capture an image of poor quality. After the incident, a stationed guard was deployed to monitor and safeguard the memorial until it was dismantled after five weeks. To improve, the University is conducting a review of the existing CCTV system and aims for improvement to its coverage area and video quality.

Updates on the University’s investigation progress on student disciplinary cases