Polish Military Prosecutor Shoots Himself, Survives

A Polish military prosecutor defending his department against allegations that it had broken the law shot himself in the head Monday after cutting short a news conference. The cameras were still rolling.

Col. Mikolaj Przybyl, a military prosecutor in the western city of Poznan, survived the suicide attempt.

Let me catch my breath, he said during the conference, asking reporters to leave the room for five minutes before a round of questions. He then shot himself, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Journalists who had left the room and closed the door heard the gunshot and rushed back into the prosecutor's office, where they found him lying face down on the floor, bleeding. The prosecutor was resuscitated and rushed to a hospital. A spokesman for the local military prosecutor's office, Slawomir Scheye, said Przybyl survived the attempt and received treatment for a wound to the head.

Przybyl had defended his probe into sources of media leaks from the continuing criminal inquiry into the plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others in April 2010. He denied that he and his staff eavesdropped on journalists as part of that investigation, CNN reported. He is the head of a military prosecution department investigating organized crime in the army.

Before shooting himself, Przybyl told reporters in the news conference he called to refute the claims, I have never discredited the Republic of Poland and with all firmness I will defend the honor of a Polish army office and prosecutor.

Attorney General Andrezej Seremet promised a thorough investigation, as some are saying Przybyl's statement and attempted suicide suggest massive corruption in the Polish Army.

I am absolutely amazed by what has happened, Seremet said. The police are at the scene and all the necessary procedures are being carried out.