A 42-year-old motorcycle thief was shot when he lunged at four policemen with a knife in a carpark at Mount Alvernia Hospital.

He survived.

Two years before that, the police shot dead a mentally ill patient in Seletar Club Road.

The 37-year-old, who had been warded in Woodbridge Hospital for mental problems, was shot four times after he threatened two officers with an iron rod.

He had been sitting by the roadside in military camouflage slacks and army boots.

He was carrying a 61-cm-long iron rod. When police checked on him, he tried to attack them with the rod - and kept coming at them despite being shot.

It took four shots to keep him down.

The Coroner ruled that the policeman was justified in his actions.

According to former policemen, officers are supposed to warn the suspect to surrender first.

But if the suspect ignores the warning and poses an immediate threat, officers are allowed to open fire.

Officers are also drilled on when to use deadly force and when to avoid it,

They are trained to aim for the body. Unlike in the movies, where police officers take down suspects with shots to the leg and arm, limbs move too fast and are hard to hit.

Each time an officer opens fire, the police will conduct an internal investigation to see if the shooting was justified.

If the shooting resulted in a death, a coroner's inquiry is also held to examine if there was any wrong-doing involved in the shooting.

The Penal Code states that when faced with danger, a person has the right to defend himself and the lives of others present.

DIANA OTHMAN

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