What started as a normal press conference ended with an attempted suicide. Col Mikolaj Przybyl had called the media to his office in Poznan in western Poland.

The military prosecutor was defending an investigation into media leaks related to the plane crash that killed the Polish president in Russia two years ago. The colonel then asked the reporters to leave as he wanted a break.

He went into his office from where journalists heard the sound of a gun being loaded and then a single shot.

Reporters rushed to the office to find the colonel had shot himself. He was taken to hospital from where reports indicate he is out of danger.

The country’s chief prosecutor, Andrzej Seremet later told journalists in Warsaw that he disagreed with some of the comments made by Przybl. Seremet said authorities had broken the law by seeking access to journalists’ text messages.

The crash in Smolensk remains a sensitive political issue for Poland and its relations with Moscow. The leader of the main opposition party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski – twin brother of the late president – has accused the Polish government of conniving with Russia to cover up the real cause of the disaster.