More details about the man who was “shot” near an SAF live-firing range have been revealed, and it turned out that he might have been trying to cover his tracks.
Here’s what you should know.
If you prefer to watch a video of this topic, here’s one we’ve done:
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A Recap of What Happened
In a shocking turn of events, a 42-year-old man was revealed to have been shot in his lower back while cycling in a restricted area on 15 June at around 11:40am. At that time, there was a live-firing exercise happening at SAF’s Nee Soon Range, about 2.3km away from where the man was hit.
Strangely, the police were only informed about the incident 12 hours later, at 11:55pm. The man has since recovered after undergoing surgery to remove the bullet slug. He’s also being investigated for wilful trespass.
Now, I know many of us are wondering: how on earth can a bullet travel 2.3km? I mean, most of us can’t even run 2.4km. While that question remains unanswered, we now have a better idea of what the man might have been doing there.
Who the Man Is
According to The Straits Times, the man, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, is a regular cyclist. And like many hobbyist cyclists, he used an app called Strava to record his rides. If you’re not familiar, Strava is basically a GPS-powered social media app, but instead of sharing food photos, you share your jogging or cycling routes.
Based on his public Strava records, it appears he might have been entering the restricted area since 2014. In 2025 alone, he entered at least 10 times. After this incident, however, he deleted his social media accounts.
Timeline of What Happened
On 15 June, the man started cycling from Chestnut Nature Park with around nine other cyclists at 9:50am. Initially, they followed a legal trail meant for hiking and cycling. But by 11:00am, they had turned into the restricted area known as the Woodcutter’s Trail. It’s unclear how many made the turn, but it was at least two people.
Now, if they had stuck to the official trail, they wouldn’t have ended up there. The Woodcutter’s Trail isn’t fenced up, but it is full of signboards warning that it’s restricted.
He continued cycling for another 40 minutes before being hit by a bullet.
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How the Bullet Was Found
Instead of calling for an ambulance after exiting the forest, his friends took him to NUH themselves, reaching there at around 1:00pm.
At the hospital, the medical team did a triage assessment to determine how serious his condition was. However, he didn’t say it could be a gunshot wound, and the team couldn’t tell it was caused by a bullet. So, he only went for surgery at 10:00pm.
It was then they found the bullet.
Also, the bullet had narrowly missed his kidney.
It was only then did the hospital notify the police, which explains the late report at 11:55pm. When questioned, he initially said he wasn’t near a restricted area, but later admitted otherwise.
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The Woodcutter’s Trail
Let’s talk about this trail. Singapore may be an urban jungle, but we do have legit hiking trails.
One example is the Treetop Walk Trail, a very Instagram-worthy. These legal trails even have rest stops.
What the man did initially was fine: he entered a legal trail. But around 11am, he veered off into a restricted trail.
This off-limits trail is known as the Woodcutter’s Trail, not an official name, but one given by regulars. When you’re following the legal route, you’ll see signboards showing restricted zones nearby. But some still turned into the restricted zone.
Why not just fence the whole area up? Experts say fencing could disrupt wildlife movement, among other reasons.
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Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
