A police officer has been arrested and charged after allegedly pointing a high-powered rifle at a civilian in Papua New Guinea and allegedly threatening to "blow his brains".
The tense exchange took place in the town of Madang on Thursday night.
In a video, the officer was wearing plain clothes when he allegedly pointed a semiautomatic gun at a man in a striped shirt, saying "I will blow your brain" and "I will kill you".
The civilian then appeared to accuse the officer of acting "beyond the law" to which the officer allegedly responded, "I'm not a police, I'm a murderer".
Bystanders attempted to diffuse the situation.
The ABC has verified the video and confirmed the man was a serving police constable at the time of the incident.
PNG police commissioner confirms officer's dismissal
PNG Police Commissioner David Manning said he was sickened by the behaviour.
"The people of our country rightly expect more from our disciplined personnel, and under this government we have a no-nonsense approach," he said.
Commissioner Manning said the accused officer was dismissed from the police force in 2023 over alleged criminal offending, but the officer sought a court injunction and was allowed to return to work.
"Such … unprofessional behaviour will not be tolerated," the commissioner said.
"The individual member involved in this incident was [allegedly] disarmed of his weapon by police officers and will now answer to the courts for his actions."
Commissioner Manning said there would also be consequences for higher-ranking personnel.
"There has been a clear failure in command at the local level in Madang and senior personnel are facing immediate administrative action," he said.
"Effectively it means that those in local operational command will be relieved of duty until further notice and subject to investigation by Internal Affairs Directorate."
Incidents not uncommon, expert says
Sinclair Dinnen, a senior research fellow and expert on PNG policing at the Australian National University, said such incidents were not uncommon in the country.
"[It] is indicative of the serious breakdown of discipline and command that has eroded trust in the police throughout PNG," Dr Dinnen said.
"Commissioner Manning has been making valiant efforts to restore order and weed out ill-disciplined and criminal elements from the ranks of the RPNGC.
"Cases like this show there's still a very long way to go."
The commissioner said more than 400 officers had been sacked in the past 18 months under a nation-wide crackdown on police misconduct.
Australia is PNG's largest policing partner with programs to support police recruitment, training, accommodation and cadet placements.
Police numbers in PNG are just one-third of the UN-recommended ratio of police per population, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
