title: Firearm suicide committed using an unusual combination of tandem missiles: a bullet, a nail, and a screw.
abstract: An interesting case of firearm suicide carried out using an unusual type of handmade weapon and a peculiar combination of tandem missiles is presented. A nail and a screw were placed in the rifle barrel ahead of a bullet, and all 3 were simultaneously discharged. The inflicted injury began with 1 common channel, which later split in 2 separate channels, both directed backwards and upwards; one was caused by the screw, ending in the epistropheal body, and the other, caused by the bullet and the nail, penetrated into the cranial cavity, where it bifurcated in 2 branches, one from the bullet, ending in the cerebellar tissue, and the other from the nail, penetrated through the brain stem. The established site of the entrance suicidal wound, the appearance of the weapon, and the unusual missiles are discussed with regard to the available references dealing with different types of nail injuries to the head.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. zoranmihailovic@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mihailovic
authors.forename: Slobodan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Savic
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Atanasijevic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001368:Axis, Cervical Vertebra / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D003252:Construction Materials; D004867:Equipment Design; D005389:Firearms; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D020197:Head Injuries, Penetrating / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013405:Suicide; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000473:pathology*