Full-time police national serviceman Finnegan Tan Yao Jie, was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head back in August 2021, at the Special Operations Command (SOC) building.
At a coroner’s inquiry hearing on 1 February into his death, the court heard that Tan lose about $10,000 to a job scam before his death, and had expressed disturbing thoughts of harming himself to his family and colleagues, according to Channel NewsAsia.
As a result, his supervisor had, at the time, assessed whether he should be barred from holding firearms.
He was found dead inside a toilet cubicle on 30 August 2021, with a gunshot wound to his head and a revolver that was drawn from the police armoury.
An investigating officer shared that a gunshot was heard by witnesses but there was nobody else inside the toilet when Tan purportedly shot himself in the head.
Officers at the scene shouted for help after discovering his body and trained medics detected no pulse in his body; Tan was subsequently declared dead by the paramedics who arrived on site shortly after.
According to the investigating officer, Tan had posted on his private Instagram saying that he was going to die, and mentioned some of the reasons; including losing his father’s money to a scam.
he had reportedly lodged a police report earlier about being a victim of an e-commerce job scam, where he lost more than $10,200 – of which $7,000 was his father’s money, which he had borrowed.
Tan also asked his sister during Chinese New Year in February 2021, about what she would do if he was dead, but didn’t elaborate further and his sister didn’t delve much further into the question.
Tan also told his father about seeing a psychiatrist, after the scam, because he was very upset about the mistake, but wasn’t taken seriously.
His internet history showed various searches, including shooting with gloves and how to write a will.
His supervisors in the police force had considered barring him from holding firearms but his situation didn’t fit the category of “financial embarrassment” which involves owing money that they cannot pay off.
One day before his death, he was heard shouting inside a SOC toilet, but the reason for his outburst remains unknown – this was reported to his supervisor.
Tan was about to attend a course at the time where he wouldn’t be armed with firearms, and he would be transferred to another troop after the course.
The new troop’s supervisor was thusly informed of the shouting incident inside the toilet.
The new supervisor, who was apparently trained in providing psychological support and giving appropriate assessments, reportedly observed Tan and saw no symptoms of him wanting to harm himself.
He then asked the team members to look after Tan and was in the midst of deciding whether to bar Tan from firearms when the shooting occurred.
The coroner’s inquiry continues and has been adjourned to another date.