When reaching the Fook Hai Building, Soh stopped, turned and dashed into the pursuing officers, colliding with Hoi and sending both men to the ground.

One bullet hit Soh on the left side of his chest, killing him; the other struck a passerby, a 37-year-old labourer, who was on the second level of the three-storey food centre, injuring him on his shin.

The case made front-page news in the local media, and led to the public writing letters to the press expressing concerns over the possibility of police procedures preventing the officer from defending himself adequately.

[5] Hoi's death contributed to a review of these procedures, which now permit officers to draw their weapons based on personal judgement and assessment of the situation presented before them.

Hoi was the second-to-last police officer in Singapore to be killed in the line of duty to date, the last being Station Inspector Boo Tiang Huat on 30 November 1994.