The North Sumatra Police is investigating the death of a police officer who was found dead from a gunshot wound inside of a barrack at Jl. Putri Hijau in the provincial capital of Medan on Saturday.

North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Martuani Somin Siregar said the police officer, identified as Second Brig. DO, had been assigned to the Medan Police prior to his death.

He was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head on Saturday. The victim reportedly had a meeting with a fellow officer, identified at Second Brig. KHS, at 3:30 p.m. in his room on the same day.

Investigators suspect that DO took KHS’ gun and shot himself in the head.

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His friends attempted to save his life by taking him to Putri Hijau Hospital in Medan. However, he died en route to the hospital.

“We are currently investigating the case to find whether the victim died due to his own negligence while holding the weapon or by suicide,” Martuani said on Sunday.

Meda Police criminal detective unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Maringan Simanjuntak said investigators had questioned a number of witnesses. He added that a team from the Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (Inafis) was checking the crime scene. (dpk)