Police Reveal Origin of Hundreds of Weapons at South Jakarta School
Police have revealed new facts behind the discovery of hundreds of weapons at a private school foundation in Pondok Pinang, Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta.
It emerged that the presence of the hundreds of weapons began with a cooperation agreement between the foundation and PT Lokta Karya Perbakin.
Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya, Commissioner Budi Hermanto, said the information was obtained based on the examination of a number of witnesses.
“The presence of the air rifles began with a cooperation agreement between Yayasan Harapan Ibu and PT Lokta regarding cooperation in air rifle shooting sports,” Budi said when confirmed on Tuesday (11/8).
Nevertheless, Budi said his party is still investigating the statements from the witnesses, including examining the legality and storage of the weapons.
“Investigators are still looking into the legality, ownership, storage, and use of these items,” he said.
On Monday (10/8), the South Jakarta Metro Police and the National Police Forensic Laboratory conducted another crime scene investigation and examined three rooms at the school foundation. The three rooms were the former chairman’s office, the former secretary’s office, and the facilities room.
During the crime scene investigation, police again found a number of pieces of evidence, namely one airsoft gun and 117 bullets of various calibres, consisting of 21 rounds of .32 S&W, 19 rounds of .380 Auto, 34 rounds of .38 Special, 18 rounds of .22 WMR, and 25 rounds of 9x19 mm Luger.
In addition, 166 .22 calibre casings, 5 9 mm magazines, 2 recoil springs, 2 bottles of green gas, 2 CO2 gas cylinders, 2 containers of airgun pellets, as well as a number of spare parts and accessories were found.
“The total number of items is still being recorded and matched by investigators, and will then be coordinated with the Polda Metro Jaya firearms supervisory unit for safekeeping and further examination,” Budi said.
Previously, the school’s legal counsel revealed that a total of 995 weapons were found in the room of the former chairman of the private school foundation in Pondok Pinang, Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta.
Hermawanto, the school’s legal counsel, said the room was opened because it was going to be used for the needs of school students.
“So on 10 and 11 July, almost a month ago, we found 995 weapons. Inside there were firearms, including ammunition and several other weapon accessories,” Hermawanto told reporters on Thursday.
Separately, the President Director of PT Lokta Karya Perbakin, who claimed to be the owner of the weapons, Alhadid Endar Putra, stated that the hundreds of airsoft guns found were legal and licensed.
“The point is everything is licensed. The 995 items found all have permits,” Alhadid said when contacted on Thursday.
Alhadid also said the hundreds of airsoft guns had been stored at the location since 2020. According to him, the weapons were intended for a shooting extracurricular activity at the school.
However, Alhadid said, because the coach with the initial S died in 2022, the shooting extracurricular activity at the school no longer operated.
Recently, the school denied that there was ever a shooting extracurricular activity at the school.