The death of a 26-year-old male from Paia, Savaii is being investigated as a homicide, Police say, despite suspicion that the wounds were self-inflicted.

The Deputy Police Commissioner, Papalii Monalisa Tiai-Keti, confirmed to the Samoa Observer that the man died last Saturday and no indication of suicide has been made as of yet, and police investigations are ongoing.

“I am confirming that a 26-year-old male from Paia, Savaii died on Saturday night from what seems to be a self inflicted gun shot wound and he was also drunk," said Papalii.

“At the moment it is not confirmed whether it was self-inflicted or not unless investigations are concluded but so far in terms of suicide we can not indicate that yet.

"The deceased is not married."

According to Papalii, the police are presently treating the matter as a homicide until the facts of the case are fully established and investigations are completed at the Savaii station.

Additionally, Papalii declined to provide detailed comments on the incident’s specifics, but she did confirm that the gun used in the shooting fatality was not registered with the police.

Under Samoa's firearms law, unregistered weapons are to be surrendered to the police and failure to do so can lead to a jail term of two years, similarly, the use of an unregistered weapon also carries a similar jail term.