Police have arrested the woman involved in the recent bomb scare at a Tsim Sha Tsui mall on suspicion of theft and making a false bomb threat.
The 18-year-old was arrested in Cheung Sha Wan last night, Ming Pao reports. She is believed to be mentally unstable and had been hospitalized before authorities made contact with her. A police source told SCMP that the suspect is believed to abuse drugs habitually; officers are now investigating whether she made the threat under the influence of drugs.
The teenager was filmed placing a fake bomb near the Ocean Terminal strip of the mall on Tuesday afternoon, leading to an immediate evacuation of 600 people in the area. Police were notified by mall security at around 2pm that day and a robot was used to carry out a controlled detonation of the device.
Police later confirmed that the fake bomb, which was in fact an alarm clock strapped to several paper tubes with cables, had been stolen from a toy shop in the area.
Under the Public Order Ordinance, making a false bomb threat is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment on summary conviction, or a HKD150,000 fine and five years’ imprisonment on conviction. Theft carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
