Suicide With a Homemade Shotgun Case Report and Review of Literature

This is a 57-year-old white man with a medical history of depression and recent suicidal ideation that necessitated police response with confiscation of his shotgun. Approximately 3 weeks later he was found by his landlord lifeless on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood. Scene investigation revealed a homemade shotgun and a hammer lying near the decedent. Autopsy revealed a contact shotgun wound to the right side of the decedent's head. The shotgun blast caused injury to the skull with evisceration of the brain. Soot and shotgun filler were present surrounding and within the entrance wound. In this case report, we show that the preventive measures of taking away one's firearms and admission into a psychiatric hospital is in some cases not enough to prevent suicide. The desire to end one's existence may lead to a well thought out and ingenuous means to commit the act of suicide.