A Shotgun Injury with Billiard Ball Ricochet Effect: A Case Report

Because of the strict gun control system in Korea, deaths from gunfire injury are not frequently seen in legal autopsies. Injuries or deaths among the registered hunters using shotguns, though not common, have been reported via mass media. We experienced a 52-year-old male's shotgun death in which the manner of death was mostly assumed to be a suicide. The shotgun injury presented the billiard ball ricochet effect, in which a large wound was formed on the inner side of the left thoracic cavity by spraying out of pellets while a small entry wound by bunched pellets was on the left anterior chest wall.