Man arrested after attacking 4 people with knife in Bukit Merah flat

SINGAPORE: A man armed with a knife has been arrested after allegedly attacking four people in a Bukit Merah flat on Sunday (Jun 6).

The police said officers patrolling in the area were approached by a 59-year-old woman with bloodstained hands at the ground floor of Block 2 Jalan Bukit Merah Road at about 6am.

Preliminary investigations found that the suspect, a 48-year-old Singaporean, had entered a flat on the second floor while the four people were asleep and attacked two women with a knife. Two men living in the house came to the women's aid, the police said. 

The attacker was subdued and arrested by police officers for voluntarily causing grevious hurt with a dangerous weapon, possession of an offensive weapon and drug-related offences.

Three of the injured – a 59-year-old Malaysian woman, a 39-year-old Vietnamese woman and a 24-year-old Malaysian man – suffered knife wounds. The fourth person, an 18-year-old Malaysian man, fell down a flight of stairs while fleeing from the scene.

Another man who was sleeping in a separate room woke up and escaped to seek help from the police. He did not suffer any injuries.

All five are tenants of the flat.

"The man is believed to have acted alone and preliminary investigations do not suggest this to be an act of terror," the Singapore Police Force said in its news release. 

"He has been traced for several drug offences since 1991, and was last released from prison on Oct 6, 2020, for his last drug-related conviction, where he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and six strokes of the cane."

The police said they are investigating the case and have stepped up their patrols in the area.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said the suspect is believed to be unknown to the victims and has a history of mental illness. This has been removed after the police updated their press release.