Man shot dead by police after charging at officers with knife at Bendemeer

SINGAPORE — The police shot dead a knife-wielding man on Wednesday (March 23) afternoon, after he charged at officers outside a flat along Bendemeer Road.

In a press statement on Wednesday night, the police said that they were alerted to a case at about 4.07pm. A 64-year-old man was shouting and armed with a knife, walking around near Block 33 Bendemeer Road.

On arriving at the scene, police officers engaged with the man, who came out of a flat in the public housing block, “brandishing a knife at the officers”.

The officers told the man to drop the weapon but he refused to comply with the orders “despite multiple warnings” the police said.

The man then advanced towards the officers while still holding the knife.

Officers then fired three taser shots at him and retreated to create a distance between them and the man.

“However, he continued to advance towards the officers,” the police said.

“As there was (an) imminent threat to the safety of the officers, one of the officers fired a shot from his pistol at the man and the man fell to the ground. The man suffered a gunshot wound on his chest area.

“Officers administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the man and he was taken unconscious to the hospital.”

The man was pronounced dead at 5.13pm.

Early investigations by the police found that the man had been walking up and down his block with the knife.

He had walked towards a student in uniform, but the student was able to walk away, the police said.

They added that the man is a known drug offender and is wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau.

“Drug apparatus was found in his unit,” the police said.

The deceased also had a pending investigation for alleged offences of rash act and voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from carrying out his duty.

“He had allegedly thrown items out of his window, and when officers engaged him, had used a chair to injure an officer,” the police disclosed.

Investigations are ongoing.

The police said they are aware that there has been a recent spate of violence involving persons endangering the safety of the public, while armed with dangerous weapons.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Jeremy Ang, Commander of Central Police Division, said: “Police officers have a duty to ensure public safety.

"We face dangerous situations in the course of our work and will take decisive action, where necessary, including using necessary force, to subdue persons who pose danger to the public or to our officers.”

Just last week, the police arrested a chopper-wielding 77-year-old man at the Bendemeer Market and Food Centre, a short walk from the site of this latest incident.

Earlier this month, a 37-year-old man was arrested by the police after he was caught on video swinging a sword at several cars along Buangkok Crescent.

The police said then that preliminary investigations do not suggest the incident to be an act of terror.

And last month, a knife-wielding man was nabbed after he charged at officers outside Clementi Police Division. A police officer had to fire a gunshot before others detained the suspect.

The last time the police fired a fatal shot was in 2015, when officers fired at a car that crashed through barriers near Shangri-La Hotel, where a high-level security summit was taking place.

Mohamad Taufik Zahar, then 34, was the driver of a Subaru Impreza, which was stopped by police at a checkpoint.

Despite police warnings to stop, the driver continued to crash through police barricades. The police then opened fire at the vehicle.

Mohamad Taufik was wanted for failing to attend court for charges of criminal intimidation and involvement in drugs.