Crime Scene Reconstruction from Analysis of Injuries in a Case of Self-Inflicted Fatal Gunshot Injury: A Case Report

Abstract

Firearm suicides, though less common than poisoning and hanging in India, have been increasing due to rising gun availability and insufficient mental health evaluations in firearm licensing. This case report examines the wound ballistics of a 45-year-old security officer who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the forehead at one of the Sessions Court, Kolkata. Autopsy findings revealed a hard-contact gunshot wound with a stellate entry laceration, muzzle imprint, soot deposition, and characteristic skull fractures, including inward beveling at the entry site and outward beveling at the exit. The bullet passed through the brain, causing severe trauma, including deep bruising and bleeding, which led to a fatal buildup of pressure inside the skull. The presence of cadaveric spasm and the CCTV footage supported the conclusion of suicide. This case highlights the forensic significance of wound ballistics in reconstructing firearm-related deaths, distinguishing between contact, close-range, and distant gunshot wounds, and establishing the manner of death through ballistic analysis and forensic medicine, and pathology