20-year-old SAF regular officer Pravinraj Selvaraj shot and killed himself in 2015 at Sembawang Camp.
He placed the rifle in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
That’s according to the coroner’s report on the incident which was released today.
What was also revealed was Pravinraj was diagnosed with depression and acute stress reaction by psychiatrists from the Institute of Mental Health in Aug and Sept 2011.
Both times, he had cited strained family relations as the issue.
Pravinraj’s supervisor also said that the young man had expressed regret at signing on as a SAF regular in an interview in 2013.
On the morning of 21 Nov 2015, Pravinraj reported for guard duty at Sembawang Camp, and he and a partner were issued rifles.
The two men were given 2 magazines, one of which was loaded and the other empty.
At about 2.30pm, Pravinraj went to use the toilet while his partner waited outside for him.
About 10 minutes later, Pravinraj’s partner called out to him to check on him as he was still in the toilet.
Two minutes later, he heard a loud explosion and ran inside.
That’s when he saw bloodstains on the ceiling and called for his supervisors.
The police and SCDF were called in, and officers unlocked the cubicle door to find Pravinraj slumped on the floor with his rifle and a piece of paper between his legs which said that he had left a message on an app in his mobile phone.
Officers found on his phone a lengthy suicide note in which he left his belongings to his best friend and told his girlfriend he loved her.
Prior to his suicide, Pravinraj was discovered to have browse suicide-related websites on his mobile phone.
He had also sent a picture of 5 bullets to his closest friend hours before he took his life.
