TCF cops suspended as probe continues into alleged 'mission'
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Detectives from the DPS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) are following up on every lead they have, in connection with the shooting that allegedly took place in Leone early Sunday morning.
For now, police have no suspect.
Samoa News understands that the three DPS officers assigned to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) who were on duty the night of the alleged incident have been suspended, pending an investigation.
As Samoa News reported yesterday, the main person of interest in the shooting is believed to be an inmate who allegedly escaped from the TCF on Saturday for the main purpose of carrying out the 'mission'.
According to new information Samoa News received at press time, it was after the alleged shooting — during the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 12 — that CID detectives rushed to the TCF to check whether the inmate was still in custody. He was found sleeping in his cell.
Investigators then looked for evidence inside the inmate's cell — to connect him to the shooting — but nothing was found during the raid.
The inmate in question is one of the four men charged and convicted in connection with the Leone Police Substation shooting back in November 2014.
Investigators have already questioned the shooting victim, who is still in the LBJ Medical Center receiving treatment for the injuries he sustained.