Missing gun baffles Samoa police

SAMOA – The mystery of how a gun disappeared from a police evidence storage room continues to embar-rass Samoa’s justice department.

The gun was stolen from the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration building and no one knows where it went and who took it.

The chief executive officer of the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration, Papali’i John Papali’i, said they are extremely concerned about the lack of developments into the hunt for it.

Since the gun disappeared last year there had been no leads on what happened to it or who might be respon-sible.

“The matter is still with the police and we have not received any updates as to the status of the case,” he said.

The weapon disappeared from the Court’s evidence room in September last year.

The missing gun is evidence in the case of a suspended police officer who is facing 10 criminal charges, in-cluding the discharging of the missing firearm.

Police Superintendent, Auapa’au Logoitino Filipo said the investigating is continuing.

“I cannot reveal details of cases that are being investigated, that information will be made available in court if and when the case reaches the courts.”

In the meantime, Papali’i said the removal of the gun has forced the ministry to reconsider how evidence from court cases are stored.

He said they are now locked away in a safe place with only one key.

“I have that key and it will not leave my sight,” he said.

“All the exhibits that come in will be handed over to me for safe keeping ensuring this issue is not repeated.”

A notice has been circulated among the ministry’s staff members in a bid to locate the gun.

“A notice was given to the employees for information about the missing weapon as there is no one who had access to the storage room but the employees,” Papali’i said. - Stuff