Accidental Shooting of 14 year old frustrates Police

Written by Astrid Sesega
Friday, 23 November 2007
cap; Police Commissioner Papali'i Lorenese Neru A manslaughter charge has been laid for the accidental shooting of a 14 year old boy on Arbor Day weekend in Savai’i. The charges were mentioned in court yesterday and Police Commissioner Papali’i Lorenese Neru confirmed the firearm involved in the shooting is now in police possession. The firearm was unlicensed. The young teenager took a bullet to the forehead and died at the Tupua Tamasese Meole Hospital shortly after being transferred from Savai’i. This incident has frustrated Papali’i, after granting an amnesty period for those who were in possession of firearms to let the police know, late last year until early this year. Papali’i feels he does not have the support of the public on this issue. “I’m doing this by myself, I need the support of the public, I need the support of the chiefs of the villages. “They need to encourage people to come forward and let the police know they have a firearm.” When they come forward, Papali’i says they will ask the owner a lot of questions, for example, ‘do you know how to handle the firearm?’ They will also teach them about the safety of a firearm in order for incidents of this nature to no longer occur. Papali’i believes all firearms need to be in safe keeping if the public require one in their homes. There are only a couple of reasons why a police officer will confiscate a firearm; one of them is if it is unsafe for that person to have one in their home. In particular if it is in a home with young children around as it could turn into a dangerous situation, explained Papali’i. Anther reason the police would take it away is if there is no reason for that person to be in possession of a firearm, if this was to occur the police would advise the owner to take it away. The police are also looking into the importation of firearms. This is because there is a major problem in Samoa of people brining in firearms illegally. “It is a known fact that they are being smuggled into the country,” says Papali’i. To combat this problem the police are working together with customs in order for them to conduct thorough checks at all border entries, this includes the airports and wharfs. If someone is found to bring in illegal firearms, they will be confiscated and the person involved will be prosecuted, said Papali’i. The police are hoping to have another amnesty period at the beginning of next year for those, who have not yet done so, to inform the police of their firearms. “We have very strict control over firearms and those who are in possession.” Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed Concerned written by Kristina, November 29, 2007 What I'm not understanding is how in the world are these people getting their hands on guns? Are they being smuggled from somewhere? There really should be stricker laws that prohibits the use of firearm for anyone under a certain age. Anyone who is of legal age to purchase a gun, should be a registered gun owner. That way should an incident like this occur it can easily be traced back to the gun owner and work from there. Guns may not seem like a big issue right now in Samoa, but years later it will and will come back to haunt! Write comment Name Email Title Comment

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Polls

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

Google Satellite Map of Eveni Carruthers

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

"Where the natives buy and sell"

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

Latest Comments

Urgent Call For Cost Of Living Relief
Praise the Lord! Being to Samoa for the last 5mths really opened my eyes to reality over there, it b...

Urgent Call For Cost Of Living Relief
I really applauded the Tautua Party for their Caring Hearts and Concern about the price of food for ...

Deadly Catch For Fisherman
Cause or Root of the problem "ALCOHOL"

Being under the influence of alcohol "DANGEROUS". Caused ...

Joe Failua Launches Album at Home
Hi my name is Lepupa Seki a au musika i le fa'alogologo..... taumafai pea e aveave ai lau taleni mai...

Manu Samoa In Tough Pool For 2011 World Cup
whats with all the sad comments are you people real samoans? we have beat wales before so why not ag...

Social Network

Join the Newsline Team on Bebo

www.bebo.com/newslineS

Become part of the Newsline Bebo Network

Get News via your Email

Subscribe to Samoa Live News Headlines by Email

Get the Latest News on your Blackberry or PDA

Subscribe in a reader

Sounds from Samoa

Listen to broadcasts from LiveSamoa.com
Courtesy of Plantation Feet, SBC(540am) and
Radio Polynesia(99.9 FM)

http://www.samoalive.com/sliveradio.asx

Live on Weekdays from 8am to 9am

Have your Say

We want your Opinion

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
If you would like to submit a letter for possible
publication in the print edition of the Newsline,
please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We want your News

Submit News from your Area
If you would like to submit News for possible
publication in both the online and print version
of Newsline please feel free to email us
at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Become a News Blogger
Have a passion for writing? Interested in
writing articles for Newsline? Email us
at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
We are looking for Bloggers from
around the world to contribute to our site.