Citation

Giffen MAJ, Blankenship H, Harrison W. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0000000000000785

PMID

35947757

Abstract

Suicide via multiple gunshot wounds is an uncommonly encountered phenomenon, which is important to recognize in the forensic community. Suicide by multiple shotgun wounds is a fleeting rare entity with few previously reported cases in the literature. In a review of autopsies performed at our institution during a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020, only 4 prior cases of suicide by multiple gunshot wounds were identified with no previously recorded cases of suicide by multiple shotgun wounds. Here we describe the case of a 20-year-old man with a history of depression who was discovered deceased in his secured residence with shotgun wounds of the head, neck, and chest. Because of the presence of 3 shotgun wounds, coupled with concerning initial investigative findings, an autopsy was performed. We illustrate how careful examination of the wounds and thorough investigation can allow for reconstruction of a plausible self-inflicted wound scenario.

Language: en