Man charged with shooting at Chinese consulate in Los Angeles

A 67-year-old Las Vegas man was charged on Monday with opening fire with a handgun on the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, hitting the building, but causing no injuries, authorities said.

Jeff Baoliang Zhang, a naturalised US citizen originally from China, took part in a small protest related to human rights outside the Chinese consulate on Thursday and later opened fire on the building and drove away in a car, Los Angeles police said.

After turning himself in to police, Zhang was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm and shooting at an inhabited dwelling, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

He used a nine millimeter Smith and Wesson handgun, she said.

Zhang is scheduled to appear before a judge for an arraignment on Tuesday, Gibbons said. He is being held in jail on $1 million bail, according to the website of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He faces more than 20 years in state prison if convicted, prosecutors said.