SINGAPORE - A man wielding a knife was shot dead during a confrontation with police officers at Block 33 Bendemeer Road on Wednesday (March 23).

The police said during a press conference on Wednesday night that 64-year-old Ng Eng Kui, a drug offender, was walking around the foot of the HDB block shouting and brandishing a knife at around 4pm.

When officers arrived at the scene, he came out of a sixth-floor unit. They told him to drop the weapon but he refused, and advanced towards them. 

The police officers fired three Taser shots at Ng and retreated, but he continued to advance towards them.

"As there was imminent threat to the safety of the officers, one of the officers fired a shot from his pistol at the man, and the man fell to the ground," said the police.

The officers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Ng, who had a gunshot wound in his chest.

He was unconscious when taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5.13pm.

The police said that officers are trained to fire at the centre of the body if they have to stop an imminent threat of grievous hurt or death as this offers a higher probability of hitting and stopping the subject.

It also reduces the risk of injury to bystanders from stray bullets.

The police added that Tasers are not always able to fully incapacitate an individual, as responses vary from person to person, and the effectiveness of a Taser depends on where its probes land.

Preliminary investigations showed that Ng had been pacing up and down the block with the knife and had approached a student in uniform.

The student was able to walk away.

Ng was wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau, and drug apparatus was found in his flat.

The police said they will be investigating if he was on drugs during the incident.

He was also being investigated for offences including committing a rash act and voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharging his duty.

In September last year, Ng was said to have thrown items out of his window, and when officers engaged him, he used a chair to injure an officer, said the police.

The police said there has been a recent spate of people endangering public safety while armed with weapons.

Commander of Central Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (DAC) Jeremy Ang, said: "We face dangerous situations in the course of our work and will take decisive action, where necessary, including using necessary force, to subdue persons who pose a danger to the public or to our officers."

This is the second time in two months that a police officer has had to shoot a man with a knife.

On Feb 17, a man was shot during a confrontation with police officers outside Clementi Neighbourhood Police Centre, in Clementi Avenue 5.

The police said then that the 49-year-old man was seen holding a knife and standing outside the police station. When officers approached him, he shouted incoherently, they said.

The man refused to comply and charged towards one of them.

The officer fired one shot with his service revolver, and the man was conscious when he was taken to the hospital and was in a stable condition.