By Gina Gomez
July 24, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The citizens of Pago Pago, American Samoa, were shocked to hear the news of a veteran police officer being shot by a man who attended a relative’s court hearing. The frightful incident happened last Thursday when the alleged shooter Siaumau Siaumau Jr. shot the detective Lt. Lusila Brown, then stood over him and fired two more times. The police officers said that the officials and the reporters were the witnesses for this horrified murder.

The detective, Lt. Lusila Brown was one of the security officers at the Thursday afternoon hearing. The witnesses of the murder says that the killer Siaumau Siaumau Jr. knew the detective the witnesses heard him asking the detective for a chance to talk. They left the temporary High School Building in the U.S. territory but suddenly like a bolt from the blue the killer pulled a handgun from his bag and shot the detective to death. The police officers present on the scene stopped the killer but during the shooting a second officer was also wounded. He was taken to the custody just after the incident.

The victim Lt. Lusila Brown was unarmed because the territorial law forbids the police officers to carry guns. The Police Commissioner Tuaolo M. Fruean said the shooting is a prime example of why the police officers should be armed. Lt. Lusila Brown was one of the officers who investigated several cases which involved the killer’s family. The police says that this might be the case of hatred from the killer for the police officer as because of the latter the accused killer’s family member was behind bars.