CASE REPORT Multiple suicidal injuries with shotgun slugs P. Hejna Received: 27 June 2008 / Accepted: 15 January 2009 / Published online: 12 February 2009 # Springer-Verlag 2009 Abstract Shotguns are usually used to fire multiple pellets, but they are capable of firing single projectiles. Shotgun slug injuries are rare, severe, and fully comparable to those inflicted by high-velocity projectiles. A case of gunshot suicide of a 59-year-old man with a shotgun loaded with shotgun slugs is presented. The first two shots were fired into the heart region, but did not hit the vital organs of the victim’ s thorax and did not cause immediate incapacitation. The man was able to reload and refire. The third shot was fired into the region of right temple; the last shot caused severe cerebrocranial gunshot injury and was fatal. The victim did not pull aside his clothing to expose his skin before shooting into the heart region. Keywords Gunshot wounds . Multiple gunshot suicide . Shotgun slug Introduction Shotgun shells are packed with a wide scale of projectiles which range from multiple small pellets (birdshot), to fewer larger pellets (buckshot), and to single large slugs of various designs. The single shotgun slugs are predominantly used for shooting from smooth bore barrels for specific hunting purposes [1–4]. In middle and eastern Europe, shotgun slugs are used only for hunting wild boar during a battue [3]. In some countries, slugs are used for deer and bear hunting as well [5, 6]. Law enforcement agencies are also equipped with shotgun slugs [7, 8]. The wounding effect of shotgun slugs is based predominantly on the large mass of the projectile (weight of slugs varies from 18 to 32 g). The shotgun slugs usually have a lower muzzle velocity than projectiles fired from long-barreled rifles because the maximal pressure of muzzle gases is limited by the struc- tural design of shotgun barrels. The accuracy of shotgun slugs is reduced due to the absence of rifling in the interior part of the shotgun barrel, thus there is only slight stabilization of the projectile. The effective shooting accuracy is limited to a distance of approximately 45– 50 m [4, 8]. The average dispersion of shotgun slugs at a distance of 50 m is approximately 10–30 cm. Some types of slugs can also be used in fully choked shotgun barrels. Besides extraordinary ballistic characteristics, shotgun slugs and their numerous manufactural modifications very often have unique designs [9, 10]. The case is characterized by the use of a special single slug form for gunshot suicide. The case is also interesting due to the multiplicity of suicidal shotgun wounds and that the victim shot himself through his clothing. Case report A 59-year-old man shot himself in the garden of his house with a double-barreled over-and-under 16-gauge shotgun (mod. ČZ Brno Super 573) loaded with an S-BALL Plastic shotgun slug (Sellier and Bellot©, Vlašim, Czech Republic). The body of the victim was found lying on the right hip, and next to the body lay the shotgun. The closed lower chamber Int J Legal Med (2010) 124:79–82 DOI 10.1007/s00414-009-0325-z P. Hejna (*) Institute of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Šimkova 870, 500 01 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic e-mail: hejnap@lfhk.cuni.cz