A former Certis CISCO auxiliary police officer was in a toilet cubicle in HarbourFront Centre when he fired one round from his revolver for no apparent reason.
Goh Ze Lin, 37, pleaded guilty on Friday (March 11) to one charge of committing a rash act that endangered human life. He was equipped with a Taurus 85 revolver loaded with five 0.38-inch bullets for his duties. He also had five spare rounds in a speed loader.
On the day of the incident, Goh had entered the cubicle and removed his utility belt with the loaded revolver. He began fiddling with the gun while seated on the toilet bowl and contemplating financial matters.
At this moment, he “rashly squeezed” the trigger and fired a single round pointing downwards. The bullet hit the floor, causing a small dent on the tile.
It was reported that the effective range for this type of gun and ammunition is 46 metres, the weapon being accurate and potentially lethal when fired within range.
He was then a corporal and deployed alone at the OCBC Bank branch in the shopping mall on Jan 8, 2021, reported Channel News Asia.
Goh finished his business and re-holstered the gun. He later called the Certis Command Centre and informed an operations manager of what happened. He was told to stay put until the police arrived to investigate.
Though no one was injured from the incident, the court heard that the distance from the point of firing and point of contact of the round was within the potentially lethal range.
“The accused did not pay attention to whether there were persons in the toilet at the time and could not see if there were persons outside while inside the enclosed toilet cubicle,” noted court documents.
Based on the police’s Force Armament Branch examinations, Goh had deliberately pulled the revolver with enough pressure to fire the gun.
“The accused was trained and certified to handle and use the revolver and knew that officers were not to draw or use their revolvers without threat,” said court documents.
“There was no threat of any kind at the material time, and the accused knew that he had no reason to draw or use the loaded revolver.”
Goh’s actions posed a high risk of harm, said the prosecution, adding two people had entered and left the toilet while Goh was inside until he reported the incident.
However, there was significant mitigating weight for alerting Certis CISCO promptly and remaining at the scene.
Goh, who is no longer employed with Certis CISCO, was sentenced to nine weeks’ jail.
Under the Penal Code, offenders involved in a rash act endangering human life can be sentenced to up to six months’ imprisonment, a fine up to S$2,500, or both. /TISG
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