Man With Knife Followed Victim Before Holding Her Hostage In Yishun, Witnesses Terrified To Intervene

Woman Held Hostage By Man In Yishun Knife Attack Was Regular Customer At Coffee Shop

In the early morning of Monday (9 Jan), a 42-year-old man threatened a 60-year-old woman with a knife in Yishun Ring Road.

He initially held her hostage in the void deck of Block 108 before dragging her to a coffee shop at Block 110. Police officers eventually managed to restrain him, placing him under arrest.

MS News spoke with witnesses to the incident, who described the woman as a regular at the coffee shop. The man was reportedly waiting for her at the lift lobby of her residence before taking her hostage.

Victim of Yishun knife attack was in shock

At the time of the incident, hawker 60-year-old Norlinda Abdullah was working at her stall.

She told MS News that the victim was one of her regulars and would visit the coffee shop daily with her nephew.

On the morning of 9 Jan, she saw the victim at the end of the hawker centre with a knife pointed at her throat.

“Everything happened very fast,” she said, referring to the assault. No one dared to intervene until the woman collapsed, allowing the police to restrain the man.

Ms Norlinda approached the victim, comforting her as the on-site doctor tended to her injuries.

Attacker reportedly waited for woman in lift lobby

Ms Norlinda told MS News that the victim shared more details of her ordeal with her in their subsequent conversation.

According to what she heard from the victim, the man was hiding behind a wall and called her from behind.

Immediately feeling threatened, the victim picked up her pace but could not outrun her attacker. When he drew close, she told him, “Don’t come near me. I don’t know you.”

The man allegedly said, “I’m so sorry,” in Malay, grabbing her and holding a knife to her neck.

The situation escalated, with police officers patrolling the nearby void deck immediately responding to the incident.

Heard shouting from void deck of HDB

63-year-old Suppiah, a worker at an Indian Muslim food stall in the coffee shop, also overheard the commotion.

According to him, the hostage situation began at around 6.10am. Suppiah said he could see that the assailant had a cigarette in his mouth and clamped his elbow tightly around the victim’s neck.

Mr Suppiah then heard the man shouting as he dragged the woman into the coffee shop.

Around six to seven more police officers arrived and waited until the woman crumpled to the ground, appearing giddy.

They rushed at the man, pinning him down. He fought even while handcuffed, struggling against the officers restraining him.

Mr Suppiah pointed out that he did not recognise the man. “This is my first time witnessing something like this in Yishun,” he said, adding that the neighbourhood was typically safe with officers regularly on patrol.

Investigations into the incident are now ongoing.

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Featured image by MS News.