Crime | Woman restrained in shocking knife incident

A woman was restrained by a man believed to have been brandishing a small knife for about half an hour on Saturday night at a food outlet close to the construction site for the Mong Ha Sport Pavilion. As a result of the incident, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) cordoned off a nearby road.

The incident took place at around 9 p.m. in front of a food outlet located at the Trust Legend residential building next to the St. Paul School. The PSP received a report that a suspected assault was spotted there and teams of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics were deployed to the scene.

The man was seen to be emotional as he restrained a woman while holding a sharp object close to her. According to reports last night, the object was understood to be a small knife incident.

He was reported to be yelling and swinging his limbs in a threatening manner. Paramedics who arrived at the scene initially attempted to calm him down.

Professional negotiators from the Judiciary Police (PJ) subsequently arrived and took over the negotiation. PSP officers stood next to the PJ negotiator with shields in their hands, to be prepared for any possible escalation of the situation.

According to public broadcaster TDM, the man suffers from hearing loss and required the assistance of sign language interpreters during the negotiation.

The man initially refused help, but later calmed down and released the woman at around 9:30 pm. The woman was then brought into the food outlet for immediate medical inspection.

The man’s conversation with the police officers carried on until around 10 p.m., when he began to become agitated once more. The police officers immediately restrained him and put him under arrest. He was then sent to the hospital where as of yesterday morning, he remained.

The hostage claimed she did not know the man. Staff reporter