Firearm-related deaths at the Institute of Legal Medicine Giessen (2009-2018)

A retrospective evaluation of the 5400 autopsies and external post-mortem examinations of corpses conducted at the Institute of Legal Medicine Giessen between 2009 and 2018 revealed 111 deaths as a result of firearm use. These cases were analyzed in terms of general data, demographic characteristics of the deceased, gunshot wounds, circumstances and locations of death, firearms used, further investigations, and any perpetrators.The shooting fatalities were divided into nearly one quarter homicides, three quarters suicides and one accident. Approximately 9 out of 10 shooting deaths were male, and nearly three quarters of the shooting deaths involved people in the second half of life. The most common place of death for both homicides and suicides was the home environment. In the vast majority of cases the bodies had only a single gunshot wound and in the suicides there were never more than three gunshot wounds. The maximum number of 17 gunshot wounds was found in 2 homicides. Handguns were used in two thirds of all cases and were used much more frequently in homicides than in suicides. Statements on the legal status of weapon possession could be made in about two thirds of all cases.Comparisons with data collected by other Institutes of Legal Medicine in Germany and other countries revealed regional peculiarities.