Hong Kong Police on Tuesday morning shot a protester at close range, leaving him with a bleeding shoulder in a fearsome escalation of anti-government demonstrations spreading across the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Tens of thousands of the protesters marched in a day of rage as Communist leaders in Beijing celebrated 70 years in power.

A Police official confirmed to the BBC that the unidentified protester was shot by an officer who opened fire with his revolver. The official however added that he was not authorized to release more information.

Although Police officers had previously fired warning shots in the air on multiple occasions during Hong Kong’s months long anti-government protests, this is the first time a protester is known to have been shot.

Video of the shooting which has spread quickly on social media appear to show the officer opening fire as the protester came at him with a baton, striking the officer’s shooting arm.

The video which was taken by the City University Student Union showed a dozen black-clad protesters hurling objects at a group of riot police and closing in on the lone officer who pointed his revolver and opened fire on the protester who collapsed on the street, bleeding from below his left shoulder.

As another protester rushed in to try to drag away the injured protester, he was tackled by an officer. Soon after that, a gasoline bomb landed in the middle of the group of officers in an explosion of flames.

The South China Morning Post reported that the protester, a 17-year-old unidentified student has been rushed to a hospital and was undergoing surgery.

The shooting marked a dramatic escalation in violence in a city already on edge, with fierce clashes between pro-democracy protesters and police spreading to multiple areas.

Riot police fired numerous volleys of tear gas in at least six locations and used water cannons in the business district as protesters turned streets into battlefields to scuttle the October 1 anniversary of Communist rule.

A security clampdown in the city to thwart violence which would embarrass Chinese President, Xi Jinping  failed to deter the protests, including a massive march in the city center.

Organizers said at least 100,000 people marched along a broad city thoroughfare in defiance of a police ban, chanting anti-China slogans, with some carrying Chinese flags defaced with a black cross.

Protesters used umbrellas as shields and threw tear gas canisters back at police, who said protesters used corrosive fluid in Tuen Mun district, injuring officers and some reporters.

Thousands of people confronted police in multiple locations across the city, the largest number of simultaneous protests since the unrest began in early June over a now-shelved extradition bill.

The movement has since snowballed into an anti-China campaign with demands for direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.