SINGAPORE - The case of a police full-time national serviceman (NSF) who died by gunshot wound after he lost about $10,000 in a scam has been ruled a suicide.

Delivering his findings on Friday, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said the exact reason why Finnegan Tan Yao Jie, 21, took his life may never be fully known, but it was clear he had intended to take his own life.

On Aug 30, 2021, at around 10.49am, Mr Tan had drawn a revolver and live rounds after reporting for duty at the Special Operations Command (SOC) base.

When his colleagues heard a gun going off, they assumed that a firearm had been misfired.

After a search, a group of officers found him in a toilet with a gunshot wound to his head.

They alerted their management. Paramedics who arrived at the scene declared him dead at around 11.21am.

State Coroner Nakhoda said Mr Tan had stated on his Instagram private profile the day before that he intended to end his life.

Mr Tan, who had mentioned suicide on his Instagram private profile as early as 2019, said he had tried to build up himself over the past few months, but “blew it by being a victim of a scam”.

He also made several searches online on matters such as writing a will. He wrote one up, allocating items such as cash to his loved ones.

During the inquiry into Mr Tan’s death, the court heard that he had told some family members about his suicidal thoughts, but they did not probe the matter.

The coroner said all the people he informed were subsequently convinced that he would not actually take his life, and noted that he “kept his suicidal thoughts very well hidden”.

The likely tipping point was when he fell prey to a scam, said the coroner.

Mr Tan had been upset with himself after losing over $10,000 in a financial scam. The sum included $7,000 he had borrowed from his father.

He eventually made a police report in August 2021, shortly before the shooting. Court proceedings did not include more details about the scam.

The inquiry previously revealed that Mr Tan’s supervisors had considered barring him from using firearms when they heard he lost money in a scam.

There was also a separate incident some time in the middle of 2021, when a colleague heard Mr Tan shouting in a restroom at the SOC base in Queensway that he had almost killed himself the day before.

One of Mr Tan’s supervisors who has training in providing psychological support intervened and spoke to him, a police officer investigating the case said in court. But Mr Tan told the supervisor that it was just an outburst.

He was also supposed to attend a course for a few weeks, during which he would not be armed.

The supervisor concluded that the NSF did not display suicidal thoughts or look depressed. But he was still considering barring Mr Tan from using firearms when the NSF was found dead.

State Coroner Nakhoda conveyed his sincere condolences to Mr Tan’s family for their loss.