SINGAPORE, Jan 15 — Rohani was going about her shift when she saw a man wearing only a pair of shorts suddenly take out a kitchen knife and stab himself.
The man had been sitting on the floor at Sun Plaza in Sembawang, outside food stalls Stuff’d and Hugabo on level one, said Rohani, who declined to give her full name.
“I was shocked,” said the crew manager at McDonalds, adding that the incident happened at around 1.50pm today.
A middle-aged man quickly kicked aside the knife, while bystanders called the police and the shopping mall’s security guard.
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“It’s so shocking such a thing happened in the mall; these sort of things don’t usually happen in Singapore,” said one shopper who wanted to be known only as Tan.
In response to TODAY’s queries, the police said that they responded to a call for assistance at about 2.05pm.
“Upon the police’s arrival, officers found a 67-year-old male lying unconscious with injuries which were believed to be self-inflicted,” said the police.
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“He was subsequently conveyed to the hospital and is currently undergoing treatment.”
Investigations are ongoing, the police added.
When TODAY arrived at the scene at 4pm, several police officers were seen clearing up tape used to cordon off the area as a cleaner was mopping up blood.
When TODAY arrived at the scene at 4pm, several police officers were seen clearing up tape used to cordon off the area as a cleaner was mopping up blood.
An employee at a nearby food stall who gave her name as Tan said she saw the shirtless man standing around and found it odd.
“You can’t help but notice because why was someone half-naked in a mall,” said the 40-year-old.
The man did not say anything before stabbing himself, added Tan, who declined to give her full name.
“There were a lot of people standing around. When the police came, they blocked off the whole area.”
Several shopkeepers in the mall were unaware of the incident when it unfolded, only learning about it from curious customers who asked them what happened.
“Everyone’s been asking but because I was in the store, I didn’t notice anything except a few police officers walking by,” said one working in a clothes store on the same floor who declined to be named.
As police blocked off the area, one of the mall’s exits was unusable until about 4pm. — TODAY