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Four days before the police full-time national serviceman died from a gunshot wound to his head at the Special Operations Command (SOC) base on Aug. 30, 2021, he informed the police that he was scammed of more than S$10,000, a coroner's court heard on Feb. 1, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Finnegan Tan Yao Jie, aged 21, was found in a toilet cubicle at the SOC with his service revolver beside him.

He was subsequently pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

The police do not suspect foul play based on preliminary investigations.

According to CNA, the coroner's inquiry into Tan's death opened on Feb. 1, 2023.

It revealed that Tan had shared suicidal ideation with his family members six months before the incident.

At work, Tan's colleague had also reportedly heard him shouting that he had almost killed himself the day before, and his superiors had deliberated about prohibiting him from carrying firearms for a period of time.

Investigation findings

According to investigations, Tan arrived at SOC and collected his revolver at 10:29am on the day of the incident, reported Shin Min.

Around half an hour later, a gunshot sound was heard inside the building.

Initially, witnesses thought it was an unintentional discharge, so they searched along the direction where the sound came from.

At that time, Tan's colleagues also noticed that the NSF was not around and decided to search for him in the toilet.

When they opened the door of the toilet cubical, they saw Tan sitting motionlessly on a toilet bowl which had its lid on.

Blood could be seen on a phone and on the floor.

The investigating officer also shared that, according to surveillance footage, after Tan entered the toilet, two other police officers entered as well, reported Shin Min.

However, they left in less than a minute.

After the second police officer left, the sound of a gunshot was heard.

Soon after, a few police officers could be seen in the surveillance footage appearing to be searching for someone.

According to the autopsy report, the gunshot wound to Tan's head was fatal, and the bullet entered from the right side of his head before coming out from the left side, reported Shin Min.

The investigating officer did not suspect foul play, it was reported.

Discussed death with relatives previously

According to CNA, Tan had expressed suicidal ideation in his conversations with his sister and his cousin in February 2021, some six months before his death.

Tan's sister reportedly shared that during Chinese New Year 2021, Tan asked her unexpectedly what she would do if he were to disappear or die.

However, she said they did not delve deeper into the conversation.

The investigating officer added that Tan grew upset over some trivial matters at a CNY gathering that year as well, reported CNA.

During a rooftop chat with his cousin, Tan reportedly also said he had contemplated suicide about six months earlier.

At the time, Tan's cousin thought it was "just a conversation", so he did not think too much of it, CNA reported the investigating officer as saying.

Upset about himself for falling for scam

Tan had also spoken to his father about potentially visiting a psychiatrist after allegedly losing more than S$10,000 to an e-commerce job scam, according to CNA.

However, Tan was brushed off.

The investigating officer explained that the scam asked Tan to invest more money so that he could receive higher dividends, reported Shin Min.

Tan also reportedly informed the police about his misfortune on Aug. 26, 2021, four days before he was found dead at the SOC.

He also said the amount included S$7,000 that he had borrowed from his father.

Tan was very upset about himself for making this mistake, CNA reported the investigating officer as saying.

Expressed suicidal intentions on Instagram

According to Shin Min, Tan made an Instagram post claiming that he would die on Aug. 30, 2021, merely 18 hours before his death.

He also reportedly recounted in the post the reasons that made him want to kill himself, including his hatred towards his secondary schoolmate and owing his father S$7,000.

Tan's browsing history also showed that between June and August 2021, he had searched "how to write a will", "suicide", and "firing a gun while wearing gloves" online, reported Shin Min.

Tan had also reportedly prepared a will the day before the incident and bequeathed his personal belongings to his relatives and two friends.

Supervisors reached out, but Tan denied he was suicidal

According to CNA, Tan's supervisors in the police force have considered prohibiting him from carrying firearms for a period of time after learning about his misfortune caused by the scam.

However, as Tan is not someone who owes money and cannot pay it off, his case did not fall under the category of "financial embarrassment", reported CNA.

The investigating officer also reportedly said Tan's supervisor had done his due diligence and assessed Tan's condition by speaking to him.

In the middle of 2021, a colleague heard Tan shouting in a restroom at the SOC saying that he had almost killed himself the day before, according to CNA.

Unclear about the reason behind the outburst, the colleague reportedly did not ask Tan about it, but Tan's supervisor was informed.

According to CNA, Tan was supposed to be away from work at the time to attend a course for a few weeks, during which he would not be armed.

He was also supposed to be transferred to a new troop after the course.

As such, his supervisor informed the supervisor of the new troop about Tan's shouting incident.

Tan's new supervisor also spoke to him, but Tan stated that he did not have suicidal tendencies and it was just an outburst, CNA reported the investigating officer as saying.

The court heard that the supervisor was trained to provide psychological support and give appropriate assessments, according to CNA.

To Tan's new supervisor, Tan did not appear to have suicidal ideations and did not appear to be depressed based on his observations.

Nevertheless, his new supervisor reportedly asked other troop members to look after him.

By the time the tragedy took place, Tan's new supervisor was still assessing him and deciding on whether to bar him from firearms, reported CNA.

Further documents requested by Coroner

According to CNA, the State Coroner had asked the investigating officer to provide further documents, including those that explain Tan's Instagram post and if there were any changes in standard operating procedures after his death.

It was also reported that the findings would be given at a later date.

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