Constable Leung Shing-yan's colleagues shuddered and went into a tizzy when they found his bullet-riddled body on the ground, and his gun missing in the public housing estate where he went to probe a bogus noise complaint six years ago, the coroner court was told yesterday.

The inquest, which began on Monday, unveiled more details yesterday on the 2001 killing of Leung, which was allegedly related to another cop Tsui Po-ko killed in the Tsim Sha Tsui shoot-out last March. More details will be revealed next week as forensic experts and pathologist will give testimony.

Leung was killed on March 14, 2001, when he went to probe a noise complaint in Room 552, Block B, Shek To House, Shek Wai Kok Estate.

He was sent to Yan Chai Hospital at 1:19 pm and was certified dead 22 minutes later.

Kwok Wing-hong, a doctor in the hospital emergency unit, said Leung had suffered wounds in left eyebrow, top left of the head (4cm), left of back neck (1cm), left shoulder and left chest (1cm).

A 2cm X 1cm hard object was found under Leung's right brow, and medical staff also found bruises in right chest and neck, which could be caused by strangulation.

Brain substance and blood was also leaking from Leung's head and ears respectively.

X-ray images also showed that five metal objects were found in Leung's body, including one in the head, three in the chest and one in left arm.

Kwok suspected that the culprit might have shot Leung's head from a close range, and the bullet had pierced through the right brow.

"It was probably that Leung had died before he was rushed to hospital," Kwok said.

Ambulance man Ng Ka-fai said Leung's pulse was weak when he checked it immediately after reaching the flat at 12:35 pm.

Government scientific evidence officer Lam Tak-keung said in a written testimony that a white mask believed to belong to the culprit was found near the scene. Some black marks were also found on the wall, believed to be caused by both Leung and the culprit's leather shoes.

Sergeant Wong Chi-kwong said a ball-point pen, a folded A4 paper, testimony paper and Leung's police cap lay scattered near Leung's body.

Leung's mobile phone was ringing, but Wong did not pick up the call as he thought the phone could be a material evidence.

The policemen panicked after it was discovered that Leung's service revolver, speed louder and bullets were stolen.

Wong immediately asked the officers to be fully on guard and urged the residents to shut their gates.

"The officers were panicky as they had not handled similar case before. I just told them to remain calm," Wong said.

The officer, Law Po-tung, who first arrived at the scene, said he was completely shaken when he saw Leung, whom he had known for a year, lying on the floor.

"I was frightened and felt sad. I kept calling "Shing-yan, Shing-yan" to see if he could respond to me," he said.

Law left the scene at 5 pm, when he went to police station to make a written statement and stayed until 1 am the next day.

Law said a male resident had told him that he could hear hurried footsteps along the corridor.

But a resident Cheung Sill-miu, said she neither heard any footsteps nor any struggling noise, but she could hear some noise made by plastic rubbish bags.

She heard bursting of four fire crackers, and found three plastic rubbish bags between room 545 and 547, which were not found when she was back in her flat after finishing work in the morning.

She called up the police after discovering Leung's body on the ground. Another resident, Lee Chin-pong, said he had heard two "Pang" sound first, before similar another four but louder sounds in three seconds.

Both Cheung and Lee at first thought the sound was caused by the building maintenance works, but the building was quiet.

The resident of the alleged complainant's flat, Wong Chi-man, said the flat was empty at that time as both he and his mother had gone to work.

The inquest will also examine the deaths of a security guard, another constable Tsang Kwok-hang and Tsui. Tsui was alleged to have used Leung's gun to kill the security guard in a bank heist in 2001 and Tsang last March.