Hong Kong - Two of the past week's most sensational stories in Hong Kong - a Kowloon Bay gunman who shot a neighbour before committing suicide, and the marital woes of actress Lee Sinje and director Oxide Pang - took a surprising twist today when they turned out to be related.
The gunman, Li Tak Yan, is the father of Liddy Li, the model reported to be the third party in Lee and Pang's marriage, said Apple Daily.
Li Tak Yan, a divorced, unemployed 51-year-old, killed a 41-year-old mechanic on Saturday night, locked himself in his home and had a six-hour standoff with policemen. Li, an immigrant from Hunan province, China, finally shot himself in the mouth on Sunday morning.
Later, the police seized a Chinese Black Star pistol and a homemade gun at his flat in Lok Ching House, a rental block in Kai Ching Estate, said Ming Pao Daily News.
Apple Daily, quoting sources, said Li, a former chef, had to change jobs after he was robbed and sustained a hand injury. In 2011, when he was living in an interim housing estate in Yuen Long, he assaulted a neighbour and was sentenced to one year in jail.
Detectives on the shooting case found that he has a family member called Li Ting, who has the same mobile phone number and date of birth as Liddy Li, the model photographed kissing Pang last month, said Ming Pao.
Liddy Li has not commented on the case. Apple Daily spoke to her mother's neighbours in Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi, who said Li Tak Yan had lived in the neighbourhood with his wife and two daughters before the divorce. The neighbours confirmed that the older girl is now the model known as Liddy Li.
Li, 26, hit the headlines last week when Pang, 48, was photographed on a date with her at the posh Elements mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. He and his 38-year-old wife have since said they will face the future "together".