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Unusual Case of Suicide With a Modified Trap Gun
Amal Vadysinghe1, Prasanna Dassanayake, Medhani Wickramasinghe
1From the *Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Kandy; and †General Hospital Panadura, Panadura, Sri Lanka.
Introduction:
Trap gun is an illegal, locally manufactured gun with a basic trip system used to hunt wild animals.
Case Report:
The body of a 28-year-old man was found in the jungle in supine position with both legs apart. A trap gun was between the legs pointing toward the cranial side of the body. It had 2 free wires that were not connected together. There was no evidence of foul play.The body had a single-entry wound (2.5-cm diameter) in the anterior chest, with blackening, burning, and tattooing. Six metal particles and nylon clothing material were embedded into soft tissue. No exit wound was found. Toxicology analysis reported an alcohol level of 72 mg/dL. The cause of death was multiple shrapnel injury to the chest at close to intermediate range by a single discharge from a trap gun. Circumstance was concluded as suicide.Ballistic and firearm experts opined that an illegal, manually operated, battery-powered ignition device was used to ignite the gun powder.
Conclusion:
We report the first case of suicide by a modified trap gun in literature.
