NIIGATA (TR) – A 23-year-old police officer is believed to have shot and killed himself inside a police box toilet in an apparent suicide, reports TV Asahi (Dec. 19).
At around 10:40 a.m. on Sunday, a colleague found the officer collapsed and bleeding from a single bullet hole to the head in a locked the second-floor toilet of a koban, or police box, located in the Shimomachi area.
The officer was confirmed dead at a nearby hospital at just before 2:00 p.m.
A gun was also found in the toilet at the feet of the officer. However, a suicide note was not found.
“It is regrettable that a gun was used, but the details as to the motive are under investigation,” said Yutaka Majima, the chief of the Myoko Police Station, according to NHK (Dec. 18). “We will strive to prevent a recurrence.”
The officer began working at the police box in September.
