Police arrested 14 residents from the Singapore Boys’ Home for rioting on Friday evening (Sept 28).
Authorities said they received a call for assistance at about 5.50pm on Friday, adding that two male employees of the home were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital with minor injuries.
The Singapore Boys’ Home is a juvenile residential home run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development. It houses at-risk young people aged between 12 and 21 who might also have been in trouble with the law.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that the police were called in after a group of residents “behaved in an unruly manner”.
“Police investigations into the conduct of the group of boys are ongoing,” said MSF in a statement as cited from Channel News Asia.
The Straits Times reported a witness Mr James Tan, 70, was cycling along Jurong West Street 24 when he heard shouting near the main gate of the home.
Mr Tan, a Jurong West resident for 20 years, said: “At about 6pm, just as I was cycling past the entrance, I saw police officers rushing to enter the Boys’ Home. The shouts came from boys inside the premises and they seemed to be directed at the policemen.”
But Mr Tan could not make out what was being said. So, he continued cycling.
Later at 6.30pm, he realised the situation was more serious when he saw many flashing lights from police vehicles parked outside the home.
In 2016, 26 youths from the home sparked a six-hour standoff with the police when they barricaded themselves in their rooms, destroyed and vandalised property after their plan to escape failed.
Sources: channelnewsasia.com, straitstimes.com