Wife and children injured as officer's pistol accidentally goes off

A policeman's wife and two children were injured in a freak incident at Kampung Setol, Tasek Gelugor near here Sunday afternoon when a policeman's gun accidentally went off in his house.

In the 4pm incident, a 33-year-old police Lance Corporal who was on duty had apparently returned home before the incident.

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab said the lance corporal who is with the motorcycle patrol unit (URB) at the Seberang Perai Utara headquarters (SPU) had whipped out his Walther P99 pistol in an attempt to commit suicide.

"His wife, 27, who was in the house tried to wrest the pistol from her husband but during the tussle, the trigger went off and a bullet hit the floor of the house causing cracks in the tiles.

"The wife and two children aged five and three were injured by flying debris, especially broken tiles," he told Bernama here last night.

They (wife and children) were later sent to the Kepala Batas Hospital and their condition was reported to be stable.

He said the lance corporal was detained and the pistol seized.

"The lance corporal has no discipline record and the urine test was also negative. Investigations will go on," he said.