Singapore police shoot dead man near Asia security summit venue

A high-profile Asia-Pacific security summit being attended by top leaders and officials from the region was briefly put on lockdown on Sunday after police shot dead a man near the venue as he tried to flee a checkpoint in a car which was later found to contain drugs.

The three-day Shangri-La Dialogue, attended by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh and US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter along with counterparts from around the world, ended at midday on Sunday.

In the pre-dawn incident, near the Shangri-La Hotel, the venue of the conference, a man was shot dead and two others were detained.

The trio was earlier stopped at a police vehicular checkpoint set up along Ardmore Park, the entrance to the hotel, where international dignitaries including defence ministers and armed forces chiefs were attending the annual conference.

"When asked to open the car boot for checks, the driver suddenly accelerated the vehicle towards Anderson Road. Despite police warnings to stop, the driver continued to crash through police barricades, endangering the lives of the officers," the police said in a statement.

"Police opened fire at the vehicle to stop further danger. The vehicle subsequently stopped at the junction of Orange Grove Road and Anderson Road," it said.

"Substances believed to be controlled drugs and an item believed to be a drug-taking utensil was found on the men arrested," it added.

After the shooting incident the hotel was on complete lockdown, with no entry allowed.

Roads and pathways leading up to the hotel, located in Singapore's diplomatic area, were shut off with barricade tape.

But access to the venue was later allowed and the conference resumed at 9:00 am (local time).

Singh had presented a paper at the conference on Saturday.

Due to the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue, security measures including vehicle and person check points were put in place in the vicinity of the hotel.

The Shangri-la Dialogue is an inter-governmental security forum held annually by an independent think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific countries.

Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters