Sabah police commissioner Jauteh Dikun said police had considered negligence in either the storage or use of the weapon.

He said the owner of the pistol was not involved in the incident.

“At this time, there is no apparent negligence in the aspect of storage of the weapon. Our investigation shows the firearm was stored in a locked cabinet inside the master bedroom of the residence.

“The victim was the youngest child and familiar with the room.

“So far, it has not been determined how the victim accessed the cabinet. Perhaps the key to the cabinet was found, but this matter is still under investigation,” he said, according to Berita Harian.

It is understood that the pistol was a service weapon provided to the Lahad Datu police chief and not a personal firearm.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that a post-mortem report revealed that the teenager, who was found in a pool of blood in her room at her home in Taman Tabanak, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Sabah deputy police commissioner Shahurinain Jais said the gunshot to the right side of her chest was believed to have hit her lungs and penetrated her body.

He said police had summoned three witnesses for statements, and a Walther P99 pistol had been seized.

Shahurinain said the case had been classified as sudden death after investigations found no criminal elements in the incident.