Vatican City ? A cadet in the Vatican police force was found fatally shot in the head early Monday inside the barracks in what officials said was an apparent suicide over a breakup with a girlfriend.

The incident rekindled memories of the 1998 murder-suicide behind the Vatican walls, in which a 23-year-old Swiss Guard allegedly killed his commander, the commander’s wife and then himself over being denied a medal.

Colleagues found Alessandro Benedetti, 26, mortally wounded in the barracks bathroom Monday morning. He later died at a nearby hospital.

“Early clues lead (us) to believe that the young man wanted to kill himself,” Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in the statement. He added that a note found on the site was being examined by Vatican investigators, and that an autopsy was planned.

Vatican officials said Benedetti was distraught over a recent breakup.

Pope Benedict XVI was saddened at the news and expressed solidarity with the man’s family and the police corps, the statement said. The pope was not at the Vatican at the time.