Police give conflicting statements on shooting

Police give conflicting statements on shooting

JAKARTA (JP): The motive behind Tuesday's shooting of three
West Jakarta Police officers by a colleague remains in the dark
as their superiors gave contradictory statements on Wednesday
about the incident.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman said on
Wednesday that the shooter, First Insp. Tasman Manurung, was
suffering from depression when he committed the murders. Mulyono
also said that Tasman had a history of mental disturbance.

"I have reprimanded the West Jakarta Police chief for failing
to pay proper attention to his men. He should never have allowed
Tasman to carry a gun, especially as he had suffered from stress
in 1997," Mulyono told reporters at Jakarta Police Headquarters.

Mulyono said that according to witnesses, Tasman looked
confused prior to the fatal shootings. During the daily
inspection that morning, Mulyono said, Tasman was seen hanging
around the precinct with his shirt not tucked into his pants.

"His fellow officers reprimanded him and took him into a room
for a talk," Mulyono explained. This, however, only enraged
Tasman and he pulled out his gun.

However, West Jakarta Police chief Iwan Nurisman Ismet denied
the allegation that Tasman had once suffered from stress.

"He had been ill once but that was because of an acute ulcer,"
Iwan told reporters at Jakarta Police Headquarters after meeting
with Mulyono.

Iwan said that Tasman was asleep in a room at the station that
morning after being on night duty when one of the dead officers
patted his behind and asked him where the night shift log book
was.

"Tasman then suddenly drew his revolver and shot the officers.
He was probably still half-asleep when he opened fire," Iwan
said.

Two officers, the precinct's auto theft unit chief First Insp.
I Putu Eka Ishwara and the police adjutants' unit chief First
Insp. Zubaidi Ishak, died instantly after being shot in the left
temple and right eye respectively.

Inventory unit chief First. Insp. Mukidi struggled with Tasman
but was shot in the left thigh.

Tasman was arrested by city police internal affairs officers
after the murder, while Mukidi was brought to the Pelni
Petamburan Hospital for treatment.

Psycho test

When contacted separately by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday,
police observers said that police officers should undergo regular
psychological testing to prevent such an incident occurring
again.

"This fatal shooting proves that some of our police officers
are mentally unstable. It's not the first such incident," Adnan
Pandupraja, the secretary general of Indonesian Police Watch,
said.

Several months ago, a police officer with the West Jakarta
Police shot himself dead while suffering from paranoid delusions.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala shared Adnan's opinion, saying
that superior officers should keep a close watch on their
subordinates so as to detect any possible mental disturbances
that they might be suffering from.

"The superiors should send their subordinates to the
headquarters psychiatric unit if they show any symptoms of mental
illness," he said.

Iwan supported the idea, saying that West Jakarta Police
personnel would undergo more intensive psychiatric testing in the
future.

"We will check out any of our officers who are suspected of
suffering any kind of mental illness, to determine whether they
are fit to carry weapons or not. We will also intensify
psychological training for them," he said.

Iwan stressed that any officers who were found to be mentally
unstable would be given desk jobs, for example

Meanwhile, the family of Tasman have left their rented
bungalow on Jl. Bojong Raya in Rawa Buaya subdistrict, West
Jakarta, which is in the grounds of a house belonging to local
figure Haji Mukti.

The modest 30-square-meter bungalow consists of a living room,
kitchen and bedroom and is rented for Rp 250,000 per month.

"Tasman's wife and two children left on Tuesday at around 2
p.m. She refused to say where she was going, but most likely she
went to stay with her relatives," said Mukti.

Tasman's wife is six months pregnant. His eldest son Briando
is an elementary school student, while his second son Rolaas
Priangga is still at kindergarten.

The officer's family moved to the area four months ago after
their house in the Tamansari police complex, West Jakarta was
demolished to make way for a development.

Tasman had also started renovating an old house located some
200 meters away from the bungalow. Building materials, such as
sand and cement, were to be seen scattered in front of the 6-
square-meter by 10-square-meter house.

"Tasman wanted to finish the renovation soon. He had even told
me that he planned to move to the house last Saturday. I thought
he was under stress as the work wasn't finished," Mukti's wife
said.

Mukti added that he knew nothing about Tasman's personal
problems. "He's a quiet man. But, we haven't seen him go to
church recently," Mukti said.(jaw/asa)