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Lee, Goo, and Lee: A Case Report of Suicide with a Homemade Handgun (Plastic Model Gun)
Case Report
Korean Journal of Legal Medicine

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2012; 36(2): 174-177.

Published online: 30 November 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/KoreanJLegMed.2012.36.2.174

A Case Report of Suicide with a Homemade Handgun (Plastic Model Gun)

Joo Yong Lee1, Jeong Ho Goo2, Sang Han Lee3

1Department of Logistics Management of Air Force, Daegu, Korea.

2Department of Criminal Investigation, Military Police Battalion, Division of 11Th Combat Air Forces, Daegu, Korea.

3Department of Forensic Medicine, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.

Corresponding Author (sanghan1@knu.ac.kr)

Received 24 October 2012       Revised 19 November 2012       Accepted 20 November 2012

Copyright © 2012 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

Abstract

Unlike the United States, cases of firearm suicides in Korea are rare and are usually limited to military soldiers and policemen. In addition, there is no case report of a suicide by a homemade handgun in Korea. The present victim was a 24-year-old soldier with a fascination for firearms. He had a history of depression and social phobia during his military service. He constructed a homemade handgun from a plastic model gun, also known as a BB gun. During the vacations, he committed suicide with the homemade gun, which caused a penetrating gunshot wound to his chest. The structure and ammunition of the homemade handgun is demonstrated in this report. We have also discussed a few details of the forensic investigation and evaluation of the homemade handgun fatality.

Keywords: suicide, homemade, handgun, military

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1
The inverted U shaped muzzle imprint surrounds the entrance wound, which is located in the medial side of the left nipple.
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Fig. 2
The homemade handgun shows fully loaded state. The loading and cocking system is added at the muzzle of the original plastic model gun (so called BB gun).
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Fig. 3
The homemade handgun is opened to demonstrate the loading and cocking system.
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Fig. 4
The projectile recovered from the body (upper) is similar with that of unfired cartridge case (below).
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Fig. 5
The gunpowder obtained in the cartridge case shows high peak of Cl and K elements.
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Fig. 6
The gunpowder obtained in upper shirt shows high peak of Cl and K elements same with cartridge case.
kjlm-36-174-g006

References

1. Cullen EF, Luckasevic TM. Suicide with a homemade shotgun: case report and review of literature. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2010. 09. 31:255–257.
2. Hartwig S, Tsokos M, Schmidt S, Byard RW. Self-constructed shooting devices utilizing manually-impacted firing-pins (suicide machines). Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2010. 31:192–194.
3. Maglietta RA, Di Fazio A, Greco MG, Introna F Jr, De Donno A. A singular case of murder-suicide committed with a homemade firearm. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2005. 26:89–91.
4. Di Nunno N, Viola L, Colucci M, Di Nunno C, Costantinides F. A case of suicide using a home-modified gun. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2009. 30:52–56.
5. Singh BP. Suicide by homemade firearm: a case report. Med Sci Law. 2007. 47:345–349.
6. Kang H. Beyond the level of risk of a homemade handgun. Available from http://healthmedi.net/news/articlePrint.html?idxno=7701.
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