Camy Tam
A local man with a history of mental illness put super glue in the keyholes of several neighbours’ metal doors on Sunday in Alameda da Tranquilidade and the next day attacked police officers with a knife in his flat, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lam Keong and Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a press conference yesterday.
Chong said five PJ officers and three PSP officers sustained minor injuries during the incident. They were rushed to hospital for out-patient treatment. The 37-year-old local jobless suspect suffering from mental illness is surnamed Ng.
According to Chong, a female resident living in a flat in Alameda da Tranquilidade in Areia Preta district reported to the police on Sunday afternoon that the keyhole of her flat’s metal door had been filled with super glue by someone and she could not enter her home. She also told the police that a man carrying a knife was walking up and down the corridor.
Chong said PSP officers arrived at the scene and discovered that the keyholes of three other flats on the same floor were also filled with the glue.
The officers later identified Ng, who lives on the same floor, as the suspect in the case. Ng had locked himself in his flat and did not respond to the police who subsequently contacted Ng’s father, who told the police that Ng has had a history of mental illness for 24 years, is on medication and given injections every month. The last time Ng visited the psychiatrist at the public Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre was on August 2.
According to Chong, as Ng locked himself in his home, the Public Security Police notified the Judiciary Police negotiating team to assist in the case. However, the negotiations were unsuccessful after nearly four hours, so the police decided to leave the scene to wait until Ng had calmed down.
Chong said PJ officers and psychiatric staff from the public Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre went to the scene the following day to look for Ng who again locked himself in.
The psychiatric staff assessed that Ng needed to be taken to hospital for treatment. The Judiciary Police notified the Public Security Police as well as the Fire Services Bureau (CB) to come to the scene to give them assistance. With the permission of Ng’s father, firefighters broke into the flat and found Ng hiding in his bedroom. He had moved a wardrobe against the bedroom door to prevent entry. When the police forced the door open, Ng brandished a knife with a 10-cm-blade and attacked the officers.
Chong said an officer hit Ng’s knife with a baton to knock it out of his hand and, after using appropriate force to subdue Ng, an air pistol was found on him. A total of eight police officers sustained minor injuries such as cuts on the neck, hands and fingers, and some of them were accidentally injured by their colleagues’ pepper spray used during the incident. They were rushed to the Public Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre as well as Ng for treatment. Ng was then transferred to the public hospital’s Psychiatric Clinic in Taipa for treatment, according to Chong.
Ng has a police record related to a robbery in February, according to Chong.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong (left) and Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lam Keong look on during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters. Photo: Camy Tam
