Everything About the Boon Lay Shopping Centre Slashing Incident That’s Known so Far

Ever since the coronavirus started spreading in Singapore, shoppers’ behaviour in supermarkets started changing.

Many shelves were magically emptied within minutes, people were spending all their money on toilet paper instead of 4D tickets, and on some days, queues were longer than those outside new fast-food eateries.

Even though the Covid-19 situation has since improved drastically, we wouldn’t bat an eye if we witnessed one of the above sights.

A man slashing another, however, is something no one expected to see.

Everything About the Boon Lay Shopping Centre Slashing Incident That’s Known so Far

A 23-year-old man was left bloodied at a FairPrice outlet in Boon Lay Shopping Centre on Wednesday (7 Oct) after he was attacked by another man with a knife.

The two are believed to have been involved in a slashing incident.

Pictures of the aftermath of the incident have made the rounds on social media, showing trails of blood on the floor and shelves of the supermarket, as well as the bloodied victim being attended to.

The police said they were alerted to a case of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon at 221 Boon Lay Place at 12.40 pm on Wednesday.

“A 23-year-old man was attacked by another man with a knife”, they said.

The victim reportedly suffered injuries to his face and head, including a deep cut across his forehead.

The 23-year-old was conscious when conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

An 18-year-old man has since been arrested. Investigations are ongoing.

Man Returned With Chopper After Fight

According to a witness who spoke to Stomp, two men were fighting in the supermarket, and then one of them left to retrieve a chopper.

When he returned with the weapon, he began shouting at the other man in Hokkien and suddenly started attacking him.

“Everyone ran away and the attacker fled, while the injured man was lying on the floor. FairPrice staff quickly went to his aid while the police were called”, the witness said.

“I wanted to help because I’m an off-duty enforcer but there was a weapon involved, so the first thing I did was to get out and dial 999”.

The police soon arrived and went around looking for the attacker, who had presumably fled after the slashing.

Supermarket Cordoned Off

As a result of the incident, the FairPrice outlet was cordoned off and closed for several hours, reported The Straits Times.

It opened later in the evening, however.

“We are aware of the incident that took place outside our store at Block 221 Boon Lay Place on Oct 7, 2020 at about 12.40pm,” a FairPrice spokesman told ST.

“Our staff rendered immediate assistance and ensured that the safety of our shoppers was not compromised. Our store operations remain unaffected.”

The spokesman added that he could not comment further on the incident as police investigations are still ongoing.

In case you’re not aware, Boon Lay Shopping Centre isn’t next to Boon Lay MRT Station (the mall next to the MRT station is Jurong Point). Instead, Boon Lay Shopping Centre is a non-air-conditioned heartland mall between Boon Lay MRT Station and Lakeside MRT Station, and is located just next to Boon Lay Hawker Centre, a hawker centre known for Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak.