Homemade Firearm Suicide With Dumbbell Pipe Triggering by an Air-Compressed Gun Case Report and Review of Literature

摘要

Abstract: Firearm suicides are frequent and well described in the forensic literature, particularly in Europe and the United States. However, the use of homemade and improvised firearms is less well described. The present case reports a suicide with an original improvised gun created using an air-compressed pellet gun and a dumbbell pipe. The aims of this study were to describe the scene, the external examination of the corpse, the body scan, and the autopsy; to understand the mechanism of death; and to compare the results with a review of the forensic literature to highlight the epidemiology of homemade firearm use, the tools used for homemade and improvised firearms in suicides versus homicides, and the manners in which homemade firearms are used (homicide or suicide, particularly in complex suicide cases). In Western Europe, firearm suicides are a frequent cause of death, with a prevalence of 9.7% for all male suicides between 2000 and 2005. Industrial manufactured firearms (eg, rifles and guns) are commonly used, and the resulting wounds are well analyzed and described in the forensic literature.2"6 Gunshot wounds are frequently reported in countries that allow easy access to firearms.7 However, homemade firearms and the wounds they cause are uncommon, and only a dozen cases have been reported in the last 20 years.8"24 The present study focuses on an unusual case of suicide using a homemade and improvised firearm made with an original combination of a trigger (an air-compressed pellet gun) and a pipe (an iron dumbbell pipe). The second part of this study compares the reported case with the forensic literature concerning firearm suicide epidemiology, homemade gun features, and the features associated with suicidal (complex or not) versus homicidal use.