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Multiple-gunshot suicide occurs when an individual commits suicide by inflicting multiple gunshots on oneself before becoming incapacitated. It excludes suicides where the firearms are operated by other people, such as suicide by cop.
Incapacitation from a gunshot injury results from a decrease in the functioning of the central nervous system. In a suicide by firearm, immediate incapacitation can be achieved by direct disruption to brain stem tissue. Rapid incapacitation can be achieved indirectly by cerebral hypoxemia resulting from massive bleeding from the heart, the thoracic aorta, or the pulmonary artery. Damage to other major organs – the lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen – results only in delayed incapacitation. [1] Incapacitation by a shot to the head is achieved when the bullet penetrates the cerebrum; however, numerous bullet trajectories, including a shot between the eyes, do not achieve this penetration. [2]
Multiple-gunshot suicides are rare, but possible. In one study of 138 gunshot suicides, five (3.6%) involved two shots to the head, the first of which missed the brain. [1] In 2012, a suicide was reported in which a man shot himself eight times in the head before he died 22 hours later. [3]
One particular case has been documented from Australia. In February 1995, a man committed suicide on parkland in Canberra. He took a pump-action shotgun loaded with four 12-gauge No. 2 shot shell cartridges, and in a stooped position, pressed the muzzle into the centre of the chest before shooting himself. The load passed through the chest without entering the ribcage before exiting below the left nipple. The man then cycled the shotgun's action, ejecting the fired shell. He then walked 15 meters (49 ft) before shooting himself in the right side of the throat, with the charge exiting out of the left side and taking a fragment of jaw with it. At this point, the shotgun potentially fell to the ground causing the ejection of both the spent cartridge and one unspent cartridge. The man, now breathing through a gunshot-induced tracheostomy, picked up the shotgun and then walked 136 meters (446 ft) to a hill where he sat down on the slope and loaded the fourth cartridge from the magazine and into the weapon's breech. The man then removed his shoes and held the gun against his chest with his hands and operated the trigger with his toes. This shot entered the thoracic cavity and demolished the heart, killing him. [4] [5]
In 1978, poet Frank Stanford put three bullets into his own heart with a pistol. This inspired the Indigo Girls song "Three Hits". [6] Other notable figures that died of multiple-gunshot suicides include Gary Webb and Yuriy Kravchenko, as well as the perpetrators of the Crandon shooting and the 2021 San Jose shooting.
Multiple-gunshot deaths of notable figures are known to fuel conspiracy theories among those who are unaware of the phenomenon. Following the two-gunshot death of Gary Webb, conspiracy theorists levied allegations that Webb was murdered. [7] [8] [9]
A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries.
Hydrostatic shock, also known as Hydro-shock, is the controversial concept that a penetrating projectile can produce a pressure wave that causes "remote neural damage", "subtle damage in neural tissues" and "rapid effects" in living targets. It has also been suggested that pressure wave effects can cause indirect bone fractures at a distance from the projectile path, although it was later demonstrated that indirect bone fractures are caused by temporary cavity effects.
Autoerotic fatalities are accidental deaths that occur during sexual self-stimulation when an apparatus, device or prop that is being employed to enhance pleasure causes the death. Researchers only apply the term to unintentional deaths resulting from solitary sexual activity, not suicide or acts with a partner. The incidence of autoerotic fatalities in Western countries is around 0.5 per million inhabitants each year.
Ballistic gelatin is a testing medium designed to simulate the effects of bullet wounds in animal muscle tissue. It was developed and improved by Martin Fackler and others in the field of wound ballistics. It is calibrated to match pig muscle, which is ballistically similar to human muscle tissue.
A blank is a firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a projectile like a bullet or pellet, but generates a muzzle flash and an explosive sound like a normal gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a blank to cycle the action, and the shooter experiences less recoil with a blank than with a live round. Blanks are often used in prop guns for shooting simulations that have no need for ballistic results, but still demand light and sound effects, such as in historical reenactments, special effects for theatre, movie and television productions, combat training, for signaling, and cowboy mounted shooting. Specialised blank cartridges are also used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports, and fishing and general recreation.
Erotic asphyxiation is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. The term autoerotic asphyxiation is used when the act is done by a person to themself. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a gasper. Erotic asphyxiation can lead to accidental death due to asphyxia.
Stopping power is the ability of a weapon – typically a ranged weapon such as a firearm – to cause a target to be incapacitated or immobilized. Stopping power contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a weapon's ability to make the target cease action, regardless of whether or not death ultimately occurs. Which ammunition cartridges have the greatest stopping power is a much-debated topic.
The 1986 FBI Miami shootout occurred on April 11, 1986, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S., when a small group of field agents for the FBI attempted to apprehend William Russell Matix and Michael Lee Platt, who were suspected of committing a series of violent crimes in and around the Miami metropolitan area.
A captive bolt pistol is a device used to attempt the stunning of animals prior to slaughter.
Gunshot residue (GSR), also known as cartridge discharge residue (CDR), gunfire residue (GFR), or firearm discharge residue (FDR), consists of all of the particles that are expelled from the muzzle of a gun following the discharge of a bullet. It is principally composed of burnt and unburnt particles from the explosive primer, the propellant (gunpowder), stabilisers and other additives. The act of firing a bullet incites a highly pressurised, explosive reaction that is contained within the barrel of the firearm, which expels the bullet. This can cause the bullet, the barrel, or the cartridge to become damaged, meaning gunshot residue may also include metallic particles from the cartridge casing, the bullet jacket, as well as any other dirt or residue contained within the barrel that could have become dislodged.
Handgun effectiveness is a measure of the stopping power of a handgun: its ability to incapacitate a hostile target as quickly and efficiently as possible.
A contact shot is a gunshot wound incurred while the muzzle of the firearm is in direct contact with the body at the moment of discharge. Contact shots are often the result of close-range gunfights, suicide, or execution.
The thoracic wall or chest wall is the boundary of the thoracic cavity.
A gunshot wound (GSW) is a penetrating injury caused by a projectile from a gun. Damage may include bleeding, bone fractures, organ damage, wound infection, loss of the ability to move part of the body, and in severe cases, death. Damage depends on the part of the body hit, the path the bullet follows through the body, and the type and speed of the bullet. Long-term complications can include bowel obstruction, failure to thrive, neurogenic bladder and paralysis, recurrent cardiorespiratory distress and pneumothorax, hypoxic brain injury leading to early dementia, amputations, chronic pain and pain with light touch (hyperalgesia), deep venous thrombosis with pulmonary embolus, limb swelling and debility, and lead poisoning.
Penetrating trauma is an open wound injury that occurs when an object pierces the skin and enters a tissue of the body, creating a deep but relatively narrow entry wound. In contrast, a blunt or non-penetrating trauma may have some deep damage, but the overlying skin is not necessarily broken and the wound is still closed to the outside environment. The penetrating object may remain in the tissues, come back out the path it entered, or pass through the full thickness of the tissues and exit from another area.
Ronald Opus is the subject of a fictional murder case, often misreported as a true story which happened in Rivervale.
A suicide bag, also known as an exit bag or hood, is part of a euthanasia device consisting of a large plastic bag with a drawcord used to die by suicide through inert gas asphyxiation. It is usually used in conjunction with a flow of an inert gas that is lighter or less dense than air, like helium or nitrogen. Continuing to breathe expels carbon dioxide and this prevents the panic, sense of suffocation and struggling before unconsciousness, known as the hypercapnic alarm response caused by the presence of high carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood. This method also makes the direct cause of death difficult to trace if the bag and gas canister are removed before the death is investigated. While asphyxiation by helium can be detected at autopsy, there is currently no test that can detect asphyxiation by nitrogen. For this reason, nitrogen is commonly the preferred choice for people who do not want the cause of death established.
A stab wound is a specific form of penetrating trauma to the skin that results from a knife or a similar pointed object. While stab wounds are typically known to be caused by knives, they can also occur from a variety of implements, including broken bottles and ice picks. Most stabbings occur because of intentional violence or through self-infliction. The treatment is dependent on many different variables such as the anatomical location and the severity of the injury. Even though stab wounds are inflicted at a much greater rate than gunshot wounds, they account for less than 10% of all penetrating trauma deaths.
Forensic firearm examination is the forensic process of examining the characteristics of firearms or bullets left behind at a crime scene. Specialists in this field try to link bullets to weapons and weapons to individuals. They can raise and record obliterated serial numbers in an attempt to find the registered owner of a weapon and look for fingerprints on a weapon and cartridges.
An abrasion collar, also known as an abrasion ring or abrasion rim, is a narrow ring of stretched, abraded skin immediately surrounding projectile wounds, such as gunshot wounds. It is most commonly associated with entrance wounds and is a mechanical defect due to a projectile's penetration through the skin. It is caused by a temporary over-stretching of the skin surrounding the projectile's point of penetration. Like all skin abrasions, the abrasion collar tends to dry out due to scraping away of the skin's outer layers and the collapse and dehydration of the underlying cells; it therefore becomes easier to discern with time. This defect is most often seen around rifled firearm entrance wounds due to the striations or grooves in the bullet's surface caused by the rifling on the inside of the weapon's barrel; however, certain other high-velocity projectile wounds can also have the same effect.