Glass doors and windows damaged: Several Yishun flats shot with metal ball bearings; police investigating

SINGAPORE - The police are investigating complaints from residents in several Yishun blocks that their flats have been shot at with metal ball bearings in the past few months, causing damage to windows and furniture.

This has been going on since at least June last year, said a resident of Block 347A Yishun Avenue 11, who gave her name only as Mrs Lou, whose flat was also targeted with 3cm bearings last year.

She is aware of nine neighbours who had their glass doors and windows damaged, the 40-year-old human resource assistant told The Straits Times (ST) on Friday (March 18).

Chinese-language evening daily Shin Min Daily News on Friday quoted another resident, named only as Ms Chung, 32, saying that her windows were hit four times by metal ball bearings over the past six months.

An MP for Nee Soon GRC Louis Ng told ST on Friday that police investigations are ongoing for the cases reported.

Mrs Lou, who lives in a ninth-floor unit with her husband and two sons, aged 10 and 15, said she did not think much of it when her neighbour told her in December last year about a few such incidents.

But to her horror, when she checked for damage around her flat, she found two large dents in the glass sliding doors of her master bedroom balcony.

"This is worrying, because what if someone was standing on the balcony? I often spend time there watering my plants," she said.

Mrs Lou said she and several other residents made police reports.

In response to queries from ST, the police confirmed that reports were lodged and investigations are ongoing.

The nearest buildings facing her bedroom balcony are Housing Board flats about 150m away, separated by a park connector.

She said she worried about her children getting hit, noting that the shots "did quite a bit of damage to the door".

"I have no idea when it happened. No one in the family heard any sounds, so we suspect this happened when we were not at home. It's fortunate no one was hurt."

She does not plan to replace the damaged doors until the culprit is caught, but said the cost is estimated to be $900.

"There are many young children and older people living in these blocks. What if a window is left open and someone gets injured? It is very scary," she added.

A resident from the neighbouring Block 347B told ST that her windows were also damaged by ball bearings, but declined to comment further.

Other residents ST approached said they had been hearing of such incidents around the estate since last year and were worried if the same would happen to them.

Mr Ng said: "We are working closely with the police and will spare no effort to apprehend the culprit. Residents are also urged to report any incident immediately to the police."

He urged anyone with information to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at this website.

A spokesman for Nee Soon Town Council said the town council is assisting the police with their investigations, and its conservancy cleaning staff are helping to keep a lookout for suspicious behaviour in the estate.

"We would like to take this opportunity to remind all residents to refrain from irresponsible actions such as these, which may cause physical harm to others," said the spokesman.

In December 2020, a man was sentenced to 18 weeks' jail and fined $2,000 for shooting metal ball bearings at nearby residential blocks from his Jurong West home using metal airguns.

The Deputy Public Prosecutor had noted that the man had shot more than 200 ball bearings using his airguns.

In a separate case, a man was sentenced to three weeks' jail in September 2020 for using a wooden catapult to shoot ball bearings from his Woodlands flat, which damaged two cars near a bridal party in 2017. No one was injured in the incident.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.