A dark cloud of mourning is hanging over the village of Makuya-Domboni, following the suicide of respected senior police officer.

Maj Daniel Tshivhulungi (53) was certified dead in the early hours of Monday after he had shot himself in he head.

Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said that Tshivhulungi, who was attached to the Thohoyandou Cluster, committed suicide by shooting himself in his bedroom. “We can confirm the incident. One of our members was found with a bullet hole in the head, and we do not suspect foul play at the moment. His pistol was found in the bedroom,” Mulaudzi said.

He added that the deceased shot himself around 05:00 and died on the way to the hospital. “We have opened an inquest docket and we are awaiting postmortem results that will determine the cause of death,” he said.

Mulaudzi urged members with problems to use services that are there to help them when they have problems. "Our job is very stressful, and we are again calling on families to give the neccessary support to members. Fighting crime is not an easy job," he added.