Police identify man shot dead and two arrested
The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
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Police have identified the man shot dead in the incident at the Shangri-la Hotel as Mohamed Taufik Zahar.
The 34-year-old Singaporean was the driver of the car that crashed through barriers near the hotel early on Sunday where a high-level security summit was taking place, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement early on Monday morning.
The two passengers in the car who were arrested were identified as Mohamed Ismail, 31, and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, 26, police said. Both are also Singaporeans.
The former sustained injuries during the incident but was conscious when taken to hospital. Substances believed to be controlled drugs and an item, believed to be a drug-taking utensil, were found on the two men who were arrested, police said. They found no weapons on the three subjects.
At around 4.30am on Sunday at a highly secured checkpoint along Ardmore Park, the three men in a red Subaru Impreza defied orders to allow police to check the boot of the car.
CONSOLIDATED UPDATE TO INCIDENT ALONG ORANGE GROVE ROADA dash through incident was reported at 4.36am on 31 May 2015...
Posted by Singapore Police Force on Sunday, May 31, 2015
At around 4.30am on Sunday at a highly secured checkpoint along Ardmore Park, the three men in a red Subaru Impreza defied orders to allow police to check the boot of the car.
Instead, the 34-year-old driver tried to make a run for it and crashed the car through the barricades. "Despite police warnings to stop, the driver continued to crash through police barricades, endangering the lives of the officers. Police opened fire at the vehicle to stop further danger," a police spokesman said.
The car, which had a single bullet hole in the front windscreen, came to a stop on a grass patch barely 250m from the entrance of the Shangri-La Hotel. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. It was the first time in seven years that police have had to open fire, with the last incident - involving a knife-wielding man who continued to advance on an officer at Outram Park MRT station - occurring in 2008.
Police said the deceased man was wanted for failing to attend court for an offence of criminal intimidation, involvement in drugs and has other criminal records.
Ismail is also wanted for drug related offences and for failing to stop at a roadblock. Both he and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin have drug related offences and criminal records.
Ismail is also wanted for drug related offences and for failing to stop at a roadblock. Both he and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin have drug related offences and criminal records.
The two men are being investigated by the Central Narcotics Bureau and will be charged in court today for a drug trafficking offence.
Passengers in shooting case near Shangri-La Hotel charged with heroin trafficking
By Amir Hussain, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
By Amir Hussain, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
Two passengers in the car that crashed through police barriers near the Shangri-La Hotel in the wee hours of Sunday were charged in court with heroin trafficking on Monday.
Mohamed Ismail, 31, and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, 26, were both charged with possessing three packets of approximately 9g of heroin for the purpose of trafficking.
The men will be remanded for a week to facilitate investigations into possible further offences.
Mohamed Ismail, who sustained injuries during the incident but was conscious when taken to hospital, was charged via videolink.
The duo were arrested after the driver of the red Subaru Impreza car they were in was shot dead by police at around 4.30am on Sunday.
The driver, Mohamed Taufik Zahar, 34, defied orders to allow police to check the boot of the car and made a run for it, crashing the car through police barricades.
The area around Shangri-La Hotel had been placed under a tight security net, given that it was hosting a major security summit attended by defence ministers and security chiefs.
The police then opened fire at the vehicle. The car, which had a single bullet hole in the front windscreen, came to a stop on a grass patch barely 250m from the entrance of the Shangri-La Hotel. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the deceased man was wanted for failing to attend court for an offence of criminal intimidation. He also has previous drug offences and other criminal records.
Ismail is also wanted for drug related offences and for failing to stop at a roadblock. Both he and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin have previous drug related offences and criminal records.
If convicted, Ismail and Syahid face between 5 and 15 years' imprisonment and between 5 and 15 strokes of the cane.
SHANGRI-LA SHOOTING: The man shot dead near the Shangri-La Hotel on Sunday morning was Mohamed Taufik Zahar, wanted for...
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<<Bomb Squad at the Shangri-La Incident>> The other procedure the Singapore Police Force did right in the Shangri-La...
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Shangri-La shooting: Terrorism ruled out
Failed checkpoint breach near hotel likely to be drug-related
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
Failed checkpoint breach near hotel likely to be drug-related
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
THE failed breach of a security checkpoint barely 250m from the venue of the Shangri-La Dialogue yesterday morning, when one man was shot dead and two arrested, may have eventually been found to be drug-related.
But "police did the right thing, ever vigilant to the fact that this could have been a terrorist plot", said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.
Only after a bomb squad confirmed that there were no weapons or explosives in the car was the all-clear given, and traffic, which was held up at a safe distance behind a cordon, allowed to resume. At about 11.30am, Orange Grove Road, Anderson Road and Ardmore Park were reopened.
"If there was an improvised explosive device detected, the implications would have been very sobering and serious for Singapore," added the minister.
The area around Shangri-La Hotel had been placed under a tight security net, given that it was hosting a major security summit attended by defence ministers and security chiefs.
At around 4.30am at a highly secured checkpoint along Ardmore Park, three Singaporean men in a red Subaru Impreza defied orders to allow police to check the boot of the car.
Instead, the 34-year-old driver tried to make a run for it and crashed the car through the barricades. "Despite police warnings to stop, the driver continued to crash through police barricades, endangering the lives of the officers. Police opened fire at the vehicle to stop further danger," a police spokesman said.
The car, which had a single bullet hole in the front windscreen, came to a stop on a grass patch barely 250m from the entrance of the Shangri-La Hotel. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. It was the first time in seven years that police have had to open fire, with the last incident - involving a knife-wielding man who continued to advance on an officer at Outram Park MRT station - occurring in 2008.
The two passengers, aged 26 and 31, were arrested. The latter was wounded and taken to hospital. Police later searched the vehicle and found a bag containing a white powdery substance - believed to be drugs - and drug paraphernalia.
The police yesterday said two of the men, including the driver, were wanted by the authorities, but added little more, declining to answer queries on their identities or how many shots were fired.
The Shangri-La Hotel was locked down briefly in the wake of the incident. Vehicles, delegates and the media were not allowed to enter the hotel from around 7.30am. But this is believed to have lasted for just 30 minutes and the three-day summit ended yesterday afternoon as scheduled.
Speaking to reporters, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said the police swiftly brought the situation under control.
"The investigations so far indicate that the situation is related to drugs," he said, adding that the police would deal firmly with lawbreakers to maintain public safety and security.
The incident came just days after the revelation that a local 19-year-old student had been detained under the Internal Security Act as he wanted to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terror group. It was also reported last week that the group had identified Singapore as a possible target.
"All Singaporeans are thankful that it (a terror attack) did not happen this time, but with the threat of extremist terrorism, we must all be prepared if an actual terrorist plot does occur," said Dr Ng.
UPDATE TO INCIDENT ALONG ORANGE GROVE ROADPolice and officers from Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) Chemical, Biological,...
Posted by Singapore Police Force on Saturday, May 30, 2015
Driver and a passenger were wanted by the authorities
Possible drugs in car may also have been why they made a run for it
By Janice Heng And Jermyn Chow, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
Possible drugs in car may also have been why they made a run for it
By Janice Heng And Jermyn Chow, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
OF THE three men involved in yesterday's shooting at a security checkpoint, two, including the 34-year-old driver who was shot dead, were wanted by the authorities for various offences.
The fact that the authorities were on the lookout for them, and that they possibly had drugs in the car, could have been why the men decided to make a run for it when told to stop for a police check along Ardmore Park.
But many online were still left wondering why the men had decided to travel on that road, given the security lockdown to protect the high-profile Shangri-La Dialogue being held at the nearby Shangri-La Hotel.
There were some who questioned the necessity of shooting the driver. Asked Facebook user Au Kah Kay: "Was excessive force being used? Couldn't the shots have been fired at the car tyres?"
Another commenter, Yeo Tiong Lin, asked if there would be an inquiry into the incident.
But netizens widely applauded the police's swift reaction.
The Singapore Police Force's Facebook updates on the situation drew hundreds of comments, most of them praising the police for a job "well done".
Everything at the Shangri-La Dialogue went on as normal except for the brief lockdown of the area in the morning, which some there said lasted for about half an hour. It was business as usual inside the hotel, as nearly 500 delegates, including 26 defence chiefs, continued to discuss defence issues during the last day of the three-day summit organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Some did not even know of the shooting until much later.
"When the police stopped us outside the hotel, they didn't explain why. Some people thought it was just a minor accident. We found out what happened only through the online news websites," said Mr Daniel He, a Hong Kong-based journalist who was covering the Shangri-La Dialogue.
The international press swiftly picked up the story, focusing on the shooting's proximity to the Shangri-La Dialogue. American news outlet CNN, for instance, went with the headline "Police shoot man outside summit US defence secretary attended".
But foreign coverage trailed off once it appeared that the incident was unrelated to the summit.
Even as the dialogue got under way, the red Subaru Impreza remained where it came to a stop, under a tree barely 250m from the Shangri-La Hotel.
The car's windscreen had a single bullet hole, and looked like it had crashed into something, with its bonnet badly dented.
The police had put up privacy screens to keep curious onlookers away, but the blue tent containing the body of the driver was visible under the screens. His body was removed only at about 11am.
An hour later, the Subaru was towed away - the only trace it left were faint tyre marks on the grass.
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Posted by Ng Eng Hen - Defence Minister on Sunday, May 31, 2015
Checkpoint shooting justified, say former police officers
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
OFFICERS who opened fire to stop three men in a red Subaru Impreza from forcing their way through a checkpoint along Ardmore Park yesterday morning had every justification to do so, said former police officers.
Not only were the lives of the officers manning the checkpoint in danger, but with a high-level security conference going on at the nearby Shangri-La Hotel, nothing would have been left to chance, according to retired Criminal Investigation Department detective station inspector Lim Ah Soon.
Last week's news that a local 19-year-old student, recently detained under the Internal Security Act, wanted to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terror group, which has reportedly identified Singapore as a possible target, meant that the police would be on even higher alert, he added.
"Officers had to physically check the car to ensure there were no weapons or explosives on board," said the 70-year-old, who was with the force for 28 years.
"When the men defied the order to stop, the officers had to suspect the worst. If the car was not stopped and made it to the conference, it could have been much worse," he said.
He added that officers are trained to shoot and immobilise moving targets.
In a statement released yesterday, the police said that when the 34-year-old driver of the car was asked to open the car boot for checks, he accelerated and crashed through the police barricades, "endangering the lives of the officers".
"Police opened fire at the vehicle to stop further danger," the police added. Two other men, aged 26 and 31, were arrested.
Pictures of the red Subaru showed a single bullet hole in the windscreen.
A former Criminal Investigation Department officer, who declined to be named, told The Straits Times that at least one officer must have been standing in front of the accelerating vehicle.
He added that it would have been difficult to shoot the tyres from that position.
"If the officer shot at the tyre and missed, there would have been trouble. Police officers might have been hit," said the 78-year-old officer, who spent 38 years with the Home Team.
"It would have been a split-second decision."
JUST IN: A man was shot dead and two others detained in an incident near Shangri-La hotel at 4.36am on Sunday. http://str.sg/UeX
Posted by The Straits Times on Saturday, May 30, 2015
One person was shot dead and another two detained after an incident in the vicinity of the Shangri-La hotel early Sunday (May 31) morning, police said. http://bit.ly/1HW6tEp
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Saturday, May 30, 2015
Some hear loud pops but most residents sleep through incident
By Janice Heng And Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
By Janice Heng And Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
FIRST, a blaring sound broke the pre-dawn silence in the leafy residential area near the Shangri-La Hotel, followed by a few loud pops.
For residents of the posh condominiums and serviced apartments there, those noises were the only indications of the dramatic confrontation that took place at 4.30am along Ardmore Park.
"I heard the shrill blast of what sounded like an airhorn," said an Ardmore II resident who wanted to be known only as Steve. "This was followed by a series of popping noises that sounded like explosives going off."
Though somewhat alarmed, the 50-year-old financial executive went back to bed.
It was only in the morning that he realised what he had heard was police opening fire on a car that had tried to ram through a police checkpoint. The driver was shot dead.
Ms Daisy Umarani, 40, a security guard at Ardmore Residence, said she heard three gunshots.
"I was shocked but I couldn't go out to look. I needed to stay at the condo."
Ms Rachel Maher and her husband told The Straits Times that they "jumped out of bed" when they heard the noises from their apartment in Ardmore II. They went to the service elevator landing to take a look but could not see what was happening.
Said Ms Maher, a 42-year-old master's student from the United States: "We were afraid because we weren't sure what was going on. This place has been on high security for the past few days."
The annual Shangri-La Dialogue summit, attended by defence chiefs of 26 nations, began last Friday at the Shangri-La Hotel. Strict security measures for the high-profile event, which include the security checkpoint along Ardmore Park, had been put in place by then.
For one Shangri-La Apartments resident who declined to be named, the greater police presence has been reassuring. "Singapore knows how to do it right, to put a ring of protection around the place," said the 66-year-old permanent resident. "It's very, very visible assurance."
But most residents approached by The Straits Times said they slept soundly through it all.
"We just saw it on the news this morning," said Mr Muhamed Fall, 42, who works for the World Bank.
He lives with his family in the 8 Orange Grove condominium, just opposite the corner where the car came to a stop.
He said the incident had not alarmed them, adding wryly: "We come from the United States."
Just how rare are police shootings in Singapore? Only three other instances have been reported over the past 15 years. http://str.sg/UnP
Posted by The Straits Times on Sunday, May 31, 2015
Police shootings very rare in Singapore
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2015
POLICE shootings are very rare in Singapore. Before yesterday's incident, there had been just three reported cases in the past 15 years.
One has to go back seven years to March 6, 2008 for the last time a suspect was shot.
The drama unfolded in front of commuters on a train platform at Outram Park MRT station.
A 43-year-old man, Lim Bock Song, had fled to the station after stabbing his drinking buddy to death at a nearby hawker centre. He was spotted by Staff Sergeant Azli Othman and another officer at about 3.25pm.
Lim drew his knife and advanced towards the staff sergeant, ignoring the officer even after he drew his revolver and warned him to stop.
He charged at Staff Sgt Azli, who shot him in the chest.
The single shot drew screams from several commuters, some of whom tried to get away by running up the escalators and stairs.
In 2010, a coroner's inquiry found that the shooting was justified.
Closed-circuit television footage in the station showed Staff Sgt Azli had little time to react to Lim's aggressive behaviour and could have been fatally stabbed, said the state coroner.
In 2002, a 42-year-old motorcycle thief was shot after lunging at four policemen with a knife in a carpark at Mount Alvernia Hospital. He survived.
In May 2000, Sergeant Jason Chua Tock Sing fired four shots at psychiatric patient Ang Swee Kiat and killed him, after Ang threatened Sgt Chua and another police officer with a 62cm-long iron rod.
Ang had been sitting along Seletar Club Road, wearing military camouflage slacks and army boots. When police checked on him, he tried to attack them with the rod - and kept charging despite being shot the first time. So Sgt Chua fired three more shots.
The state coroner later ruled that Sgt Chua had been justified in his actions.