A man who attacked people and cars with a sword yesterday was under the influence of drugs, police said.
The Singapore Police Force said at midnight that the unidentified 37-year-old man, dubbed a “samurai” online, had consumed unknown pills prior to causing havoc at Buangkok. He will be charged tomorrow with armed assault.
Before the man was captured on viral videos crossing a road to swing his sword at cars, the police said the man had a “brief altercation” with people at the lift lobby of his housing block.
The police said they found two packets of yellow pills in his home but said their investigation did not conclude the incident was an “act of terror.”
The police were alerted to the incident at about 1:56pm yesterday just outside Buangkok Square Mall, where the man was captured standing in the middle of the road. He hit five passing cars before attacking a man at a traffic light. The attacker was pinned down by at least five people, according to footage of the takedown.
He was arrested hours later, and the sword was seized. A pedestrian suffered two slash wounds to his left arm and was sent to the hospital while another had abrasions on his left knee, the police said.
The police added that the attacker had previous violent offenses for which he spent nine months in prison before being released in July 2020. He was remanded to the Institute of Mental Health and diagnosed with a drug addiction.
If found guilty under Section 324 of the Penal Code 1871 for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, he could be jailed for up to seven years with a fine and caned.
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