Policemen kills himself after shooting superior
Indra Harsaputra and Eva Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya/Jakarta
A policeman, apparently under stress, shot himself on Wednesday after shooting a senior colleague at a police station in Jombang, East Java.
The incident, which occurred just four days after a shooting spree by a military soldier in Jakarta, has served as a wake-up call for the government to improve supervision of security personnel, especially those on stressful assignments.
The Jombang incident began at 6:30 a.m when First. Insp. Sugeng Triyono, the former chief of the traffic section at the regental police, entered the office of Adj. Comr. Ibrahim Gani.
After a brief but heated talk, the young police officer suddenly grabbed Ibrahim's revolver and shot the latter in the chest and hip. Bleeding, Ibrahim scrambled to get out of office, when suddenly another gunshot was heard.
Fellow police officers, who were preparing to attend a morning briefing, rushed to the scene, and found Ibrahim fighting for his life. Triyono was already dead inside the office, with a bullet wound to his right temple. A revolver lying near Triyono's body has been seized for evidence. Triyono is believed to have killed himself after he shot Ibrahim.
Ibrahim was rushed to Bayangkara Police Hospital in Surabaya, while the remains of Triyono were taken to Jombang Hospital for a post mortem examination.
Sr. Comr. Endro Wardoyo, the spokesman for East Java Police, denied that the incident was triggered by a transfer that had affected police officer Triyono. Triyono was recently replaced as chief of the "lucrative" traffic section with the regental police. Endro said that Triyono suffered from stress stemming from chronic hemorrhoids and a liver ailment.
Separately, the wife of Ibrahim, Adj. Comr. Khabibah, a staffer at Mojosari State Police School, said that her husband was in stable condition after surgery at Bayangkara Police Hospital. She denied that a personal dispute between Triyono and Ibrahim was the motive behind the shooting.
The case has surprised police generals in Jakarta, and a press conference at the National Police headquarters was held later on Wednesday. In the press conference, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedirahardjo backed Endro's statement that Triyono was suffering from a mental disorder. Triyono, according to Aryanto, had been suffering from insomnia for four days prior to the shooting.
The incident came just days after another shooting on Sunday when a soldier on duty for the Asian and African Summit in Senayan Sports Complex, Jakarta, opened fire on fellow soldiers, killing one and wounding three others. Another incident took place last year, when a Navy officer, who was reportedly depressed and under the influence of drugs, shot five other Army soldiers while on duty in Aceh. Four of the soldiers were killed.
Commenting on the recent spate of shootings, a psychologist with the University of Indonesia, Indri Savitri, has suggested that security personnel undertaking stressful assignments be subject to constant supervision.