Man who jumped from Ang Mo Kio block allegedly didn’t live there, caused disturbances before
More details have emerged about the 57-year-old man who jumped from the 12th floor of an Ang Mo Kio block on Sept 20, with residents saying he had caused disturbances there before.
When Stomp visited the topmost floor of Block 645 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 on Sept 24, a 62-year-old retiree was sweeping the corridor outside her home.
She told Stomp she had lived at the block for about 40 years and recognised the man involved in the incident.
Although he did not live there, she said he would visit someone living on the 12th floor and had been seen at the block on previous occasions.
“He always comes here wanting to quarrel, shouting also,” she said.
She claimed that he would sometimes shout even when no one appeared to be arguing with him.
The woman said she last saw him at the block about two months before the incident.
She also recalled seeing him during previous festive periods, when she claimed he and others would leave bottles along the parapet.
On Sept 20, she said she saw the man carrying a bottle and suspected he had been drinking.
She also heard him shouting outside and became frightened.
“I was alone, I was scared also,” she said.
She decided to leave the floor rather than remain in her flat.
According to the resident, the man then used a sofa left along the common corridor to climb onto the parapet.
“After he [used] the sofa, he climbed outside,” she said.
She did not witness the moment the man jumped as she had already gone downstairs.
She recalled seeing police and other emergency responders arrive and said residents were kept away from the area.
Another resident, Anne, shared a similar account, saying she heard the man knocking on a neighbour’s door and shouting before dragging a sofa towards the parapet.
The 64-year-old said she tried to dissuade him, but he allegedly told her he had come to “cause trouble”.
She subsequently saw him stand on the sofa and sit on the parapet, after which she called the police.
Sofa and other items line corridor
During Stomp’s visit on Sept 24, various belongings could be seen along portions of the 12th-floor common corridor.
They included shoe cabinets and racks, plants, bicycles and e-bikes, as well as the sofa that residents said the man had used to reach the parapet.
The retiree said she had complained about items being placed along the corridor before and was particularly concerned about the sofa following the incident.
“If the sofa was not here, the man [would] never stand here or go here,” she said.
She expressed frustration over what she described as recurring problems at the block despite having lived there for four decades.
“I tell the HDB to break down this block,” she said. “This is such an old block... so many problems.”
She added that she had lived there since her parents were alive and continued residing there after they died.
Man landed on safety life air pack
In an earlier report, police told Stomp they received a call for assistance at the block at about 3.30pm on Sept 20.
Upon arrival, officers spotted a 57-year-old man sitting on the ledge of a residential unit.
As it was assessed that he might pose a danger to himself, officers from the Crisis Negotiation Unit and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were activated.
SCDF deployed two safety life air packs at the foot of the block.
At about 6.20pm, the man jumped from the ledge and landed on one of the air packs.
He was apprehended under Section 7(1) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008 and taken conscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Stomp has contacted Ang Mo Kio Town Council regarding the items along the common corridor and the residents’ feedback.
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