Imagine you minding your own business, but all of a sudden, a man who was initially facing the wall suddenly followed you when you noticed him.
You’ve no idea who he is, and before you knew it, he took you hostage.
Not by locking the door of his Gojek car but with a knife to your neck.
For no apparent reason.
That was what happened to a 60-year-old cleaner in Yishun this morning (9 January 2023).
Pretty much another Monday in Yishun.
Hostage in Yishun Revealed What Happened
According to residents interviewed by The Straits Times, the victim would usually head to the coffeeshop at Blk 110 with her cousin to buy coffee every morning.
Her cousin would place the order while she waited nearby.
But it’s 2023, and it’s Yishun, so today isn’t just another day for her.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the victim said that she was waiting for her cousin as usual when she saw the suspect facing a wall with a weird look.
Noticing something was amiss, she stood up from where she was sitting and left, but the man, whom she didn’t know, suddenly followed her.
But here’s when the plot twist occurred.
A policeman was just nearby, and so, she approached him—a logical thing to do.
But similar to how you can’t use logic on your boss, you can’t use logic on a man who intends to take a stranger hostage.
The man appeared to be aggravated by the police presence, and that was when he grabbed the victim and held her hostage with a knife.
A stall helper from the coffee shop said the man had a cigarette in his mouth when he was grabbing the victim.
While we all just saw snippets of the incident (and a 13-minute livestream), the entire stand-off actually lasted a whopping one hour.
This is why there’s enough time for the Emergency Response Team to arrive.
How It All Ended
It’s reported as the officers negotiated with the suspect, one of the officers noticed that the suspect appeared to have his knife far from the victim and rushed forward to grab his hand in time, while another officer jumped in to take the victim away.
Basically, a movie scene right in here in Yishun.
There was also another eyewitness who said the victim (or the suspect) collapsed due to some reason, which allowed the officer to put his training to use.
After that, the officers, and some bystanders, immediately pinned the man down.
According to eyewitnesses, the man was still shouting and resisting when he was on the ground, so most probably, it was the victim who fainted.
The coffeeshop supervisor told CNA that there had been fights in the area, but this was the first time that a hostage situation had taken place.
Featured Image: Facebook