mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040919p2a00m0dm004000c.html

Cop botches suicide attempt sparked by wedding woes


HIROSHIMA -- A police sergeant who attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head with his service revolver because of problems with a marriage failed to take his own life after he missed his target despite firing from point-blank range, according to police.

The 30-year-old sergeant, whose name has not been disclosed, was not injured by the shot, which blasted through a window in the Hiroshima Prefectural Police force headquarters.

Another officer in the same room when the incident occurred also escaped unscathed.

Internal affairs officers are questioning the sergeant with a view to laying charges for breaking the Firearms and Swords Control Law. The sergeant admits to firing the unauthorized shot.

"I was worried about a problem with my marriage. I wanted to commit suicide and pulling the trigger was just a reflex action," the sergeant said.

Police said the sergeant's shot burst through an office window and slammed into a wall of the adjacent wing. (Mainichi Shimbun, Sept. 19, 2004)

flinch