Chitchat 17-Hour Hostage Situation In Sembawang! Guess Race?

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SINGAPORE: A 17-hour standoff between the police and a man who locked himself in a Sembawang flat with a two-year-old boy ended after police broke into the unit on Wednesday afternoon (Sep 28).

The 39-year-old suspect had locked himself and the boy inside the fifth-floor unit at Block 462 Sembawang Drive since around 6.40pm on Tuesday. At 12.03pm on Wednesday, officers from the Special Operations Command forced their way into the unit.



A Special Operations Command truck at the block where the boy was being held. (Photo: Alicia Tantriady)

The man was arrested for wrongful confinement and drug-related offences, the police said, adding that the boy’s mother has also been arrested for drug-related offences.

The boy was unharmed and is now in the custody of authorities. Paramedics are assessing his condition, the police said. Channel NewsAsia understands that the police will work with the Ministry of Social and Family Development on the boy’s well-being.



The suspect being led away by the police. (Photos: Alicia Tantriady)


During the standoff, police negotiators tried to persuade the man to open the door to release the boy. They did not break into the house earlier as they did not want to agitate the man, the police said.

But when the man refused to surrender, police eventually forced their way into the house by breaking a window and cutting the front gate of the flat.



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The incident was said to be sparked off by a dispute between the boy's mother and the man, who are believed to be in a relationship.

Ms Rosli, who was visiting her mother who lives a few doors down from the unit, said her mother heard a loud argument between the couple at around 5pm on Tuesday. The woman was crying and the man chased her out of the house, she said.

“An older lady – I assume is the kids’ grandmother – then came and told the man to open up. She was telling the guy to let him go, he's not your child, release him. She said (the boy) has not been to school for so long.”

When the police broke into the house, Ms Rosli said she saw the officers climbing up into the unit, then heard a hissing sound and a loud bang.

BOY HAD SUFFICIENT FOOD, WATER: MP

Earlier on Wednesday, Sembawang GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak told the media that the boy – the youngest of four children – had access to sufficient food and water at home while he was being held.

“We are watching the situation very closely and the police have been working very hard to negotiate with the individual involved. Our concern is for the safety of both the individual and the child,” he said.

“We understand it’s a family dispute and they are now trying to resolve this. We have also checked our database and the family is not known to us for ComCare assistance or anything at all,” Dr Lim added.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...t/3161756.html


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