Greg Norman LUNDBERG

New South Wales Police Force

Constable

Regd. # ?

Stations:  Sutherland, Menai Police shop front

Awards:  Nil ?

Less than 18 months Service

Born:  ?

Died:  7 January 2007

Suicide – Firearm

Menai Market Place shopping centre Police Front

29 years old

Funeral date:  ?

Funeral location:  ?

Grave location:  ?

 

Policeman found shot dead in Sydney

A police constable found shot dead in a station in Sydney’s south is believed to have killed himself.

The 29-year-old constable was found about 1pm (AEDT) today with a gunshot wound inside Menai police station, but the death is not being treated as suspicious.

Police said the officer was from the Sutherland Local Area Command and was alone in the building at the time.

“He’s an officer who had served with us for some 18 months, and will be sadly lost,” Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters.

“We can ill afford to lose anyone from this organisation, but particularly one as young as this man makes it a double tragedy.”

Mr Scipione said the officer died from a gunshot wound to the head and his service revolver was found next to his body.

A report was being prepared for the coroner and officers were being offered counselling.

His death is being investigated by a critical incident team.

Further details about the officer have not been released as family members are yet to be notified.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/policeman-found-shot-dead-in-sydney/2007/01/07/1168104863008.html

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Constable dies alone in station

 

 

A POLICE constable with less than 18 months‘ experience in the force shot himself dead inside a one-man station on Sydney’s southern outskirts yesterday.

What caused so much anguish in the mind of the 29-year-old officer for him to take his life is now the subject of an investigation by a critical incident team comprising detectives from the homicide squad, the coroner’s investigation unit, St George police and police internal affairs.

But the acting Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, who attended the scene of the shooting in the tiny Menai police station at the Menai Marketplace shopping mall, said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

The officer, attached to the Sutherland police area local command, was found dead in a toilet cubicle inside the station, which is manned 24 hours by a single officer on rotation.

The death brings to at least five the number of police officers who have killed themselves at a police station since 2001. All were found by colleagues.

Mr Scipione said police from Sutherland made the discovery at 1pm when sent to investigate why the officer, whose name has not been released, had not responded to several calls from colleagues.

Mr Scipione said the officer had sustained a single gunshot wound to the head. His 9mm-calibre Glock semi-automatic service pistol was beside his body.

Mr Scipione said: “It is a very sad day for the NSW Police Force today. Today we learned of the sad loss of an officer … he is an officer who has served with us for some 18 months … We can ill afford to lose anyone from this organisation. But particularly someone as young as this man makes it a double tragedy.

“We are advised that there is a single gunshot wound to the head but at this stage these matters are the subject of an investigation. I can indicate that his service firearm was found at the scene.”

Mr Scipione said colleagues had spoken to the constable on the phone several times during the morning as part of routine checks.

He said the officer had been stationed at Sutherland since graduating from the academy in 2005. “We don’t know what it is that [has] caused the events of today to unfold. I would not suggest to you, though, that there is anything suspicious.”

Police said the station had external and internal surveillance cameras, from which film had been taken to examine the officer’s movements. The station was fitted with an alarm system, and officers working alone there wear an emergency alarm on the wrist.

Last night police were trying to contact the constable’s next of kin to inform them of his death. It is believed they live on the South Coast.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/young-constable-dies-alone/2007/01/07/1168104868008.html

 

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Tragic rookie told police he had tried to take his life

 

THE young policeman who killed himself at a single-person station had a troubled mental health history.

When Greg Norman Lundberg entered the NSW Police Academy at Goulburn two years ago he wrote on the application form that he had previously tried to take his own life.

He successfully completed his training, graduated as a constable and was armed with a Glock semi-automatic service pistol.

And last year he was given his first major assignment: to manage the one-officer station at the Menai Market Place shopping centre.

On Sunday, January 8, (Saturday, January 7) the 29-year-old constable was found in the police station’s toilet with a single gunshot wound to the head. His Glock pistol was lying next to him.

Senior police are furious that Lundberg was “thrown in at the deep end” by his superiors and maintain that the service failed in its duty of care towards him.

A detective said applications for gun licences under the Firearms Act 1996 were rejected regularly if the applicant had a history of self-harm or mental illness.

His death is now being investigated by the critical incident team comprising senior detectives drawn from the homicide squad, the coroner’s investigation unit, St George police and the force’s internal affairs.

They have taken possession of the station’s closed-circuit TV tapes showing Lundberg pacing up and down in a highly agitated state.

They have also learnt that neighbouring police spent an hour and a half trying to contact him by phone and radio before driving to Menai to find out what was wrong.

A report will be sent to the State Coroner who will decide whether to hold a public inquest.

Police facilities at Menai have a chequered history. About 15 years ago a fully operational, fully staffed station was opened on the Old Illawarra Road but a few years ago it became the headquarters of the dog squad.

Menai was then given a single-officer shopfront station in the shopping market.

Following Lundberg’s death, community leaders said they would reopen the campaign for a fully staffed station to handle the increasing level of street crime and antisocial behaviour.

The Police Association of NSW declined to comment on the incident while the investigation was continuing.

Source: The Sun-Herald   http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tragic-rookie-told-police-he-had-tried-to-take-his-life/2007/01/20/1169096030971.html

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Menai Police Shop Front location:  [codepeople-post-map]