SINGAPORE — This morning (May 31), police opened fire on an oncoming vehicle at an area near Shangri-La hotel where check points have been put in place with the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue, after the driver did not heed police instructions and ploughed through police barricades. A 34-year-old man was shot and killed.

Security has been tight due to the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue.

The discharge of a firearm by the police is rare in Singapore.

Here are some previous incidents of police opening fire:

June 13, 2009: A 48-year-old driver, who did not hold a licence and had a string of traffic offences, tried to run over a police officer in his attempt to evade a road block at the junction of Kreta Ayer Road and Neil Road. An officer fired one shot at the front wheel of the car. No one was injured. The driver was jailed and banned from driving.

March 6 2008: A 43-year-old man who had stabbed a 52-year-old off job worker to death in a hawker centre was shot by a police officer at close range. He lunged at the officers who had approached him on the North-East Line platform while carrying a knife. He was shot within a three metre-range in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Oct 5, 2002: A knife-wielding motorcycle thief was shot by the police when he charged at four officers with a 20cm knife in the car park at Mount Alvernia Hospital. The 42-year-old Singaporean survived with a wounded right shoulder and was convicted of criminal intimidation in 2003.

Jan 16, 2002: A Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officer opened fire at a drug suspect who had tried to break through a police cordon surrounding his flat on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. The 40-year-old was trying to ignite a piece of cloth in flammable liquid when the officer shot him in the abdomen. The man, who survived, was also found to be armed with two knives, a hammer and a spanner.

May 15, 2000: A man with a long history of mental illness was shot dead on Seletar Club Road after he threatened the police with a 61cm iron rod. It took four shots to keep the 37-year-old down. He died at the scene with gunshot wounds on his hands, abdomen and chest.

April 2, 1999: A fugitive criminal who charged at a police sergeant with a knife was shot dead in a crowded People’s Park Food Centre. Wanted for a number of drug-related and robbery convictions, as well as for attacking CNB officers, he was shot after a 30-minute chase by two police officers and pronounced dead at the Singapore General Hospital. 

Dec 18 1988: Following a 30-month manhunt, Lim Keng Peng, nicknamed Ah Huat was gunned down by police using a sub-machine gun at a kopitiam at Sunset Way. He was wanted for shooting and killing Detective Goh Ah Kia at Upper Serangoon Road.

July 21, 1973: 20-year-old Hoo How Seng was shot five times in the head and body and laid dead after a police ambush at his Cavenagh Road flat, following a nine-day manhunt. Hoo, who was also involved in armed robberies and housebreaking incidents, had shot and killed Detective Ong Poh Heng at East Coast Road.

Dec 16, 1972: Police engaged in several shoot-outs with Abdul Wahab bin Hassan, 24, and his brother, Mustapha, 21, who were part of a gun smuggling syndicate. Wahab earlier escaped from Changi Prison where he was held for armed robbery. Mustapha survived a shot in a shootout with the police at Labrador Park but was freed by his brother from police custody while being treated at Outram Hospital. In a final stand-off in Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islam cemetery, the duo committed suicide by shooting themselves in the head. Police opened fire after they heard the shots, then moved forward a few minutes later to find them dead.