A joyous occasion took an ugly turn for a group of wedding revellers yesterday when metal pellets were fired at their vehicles.
The incident occurred at around 7am at Block 762, Woodlands Avenue 6, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.
The pellets struck and cracked the windscreens of two cars festooned with wedding decorations. A metal pellet, about the size of a pea, was lodged in one of the windscreens.
The pellets also caused dents on the same cars, which were part of a five-car convoy. It is unclear who shot the pellets, which seem similar to the type used in air guns.
The police told The Sunday Times they were alerted to a case of mischief at a carpark beside Block 762, Woodlands Avenue 6, at 7.45am yesterday. ST understands that several pellets were found at the scene. No one was injured. When Wanbao arrived at the scene, more than 10 police officers and investigators had cordoned off the area.
Mr Liu Yuanqi, a 31-year-old who works in the IT industry, was one of the groomsmen and owns one of the damaged cars. He told Wanbao that seven groomsmen were in the five cars driven to the location to escort the bride. They were playing games at the foot of the block when one of the bridesmaids heard the sound made by the pellets hitting the cars.
"I rushed to check my car and found that the windscreen was broken... My friend's car was also hit," Mr Liu said. His friend, Mr Li Jinyong, a 31-year-old stockbroker, said his car was hit at least six times.
Mr Liu said there were about 17 people in the area when the shots were fired. "It's so dangerous... Luckily, no one was hurt and the bridal car was not hit. Otherwise, the wedding would not be able to proceed."
He added that he and his friends were worried about not being able to attend their good friend's wedding lunch, as they stayed behind to aid in police investigations.
A resident of neighbouring Block 761 told ST she heard a lot of noise going on for about 15 minutes in the morning. Said the 43-year-old primary school teacher who gave her name only as Madam Noor: "I didn't hear the cars honking. Just a lot of women cheering repeatedly. They were very loud and I don't know what the noise was about."
Madam Noor said "gatecrashing", a wedding tradition, takes place in her estate "every three or four months". "A few months back, there was the same thing, but with very loud honking. Maybe a resident got irritated," she said, adding that the festivities sometimes take place before 7am.
Police investigations are ongoing. Last November, a 24-year- old man who possessed an air pistol and related accessories was arrested.
The police have said they take a serious view of arms-related offences. Arms refers to "any firearm, air gun, air pistol, automatic gun, automatic pistol and any other kind of gun or pistol from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged or noxious liquid, flame or fumes can be emitted, and any component part thereof and includes any bomb or grenade and any component part thereof".
