• Erwan Le Garff, Yann Delannoy, Vadim Mesli, Jean Marie Berthezene, Philippe Morbidelli, and Valéry Hédouin.
• From the *Service de Médecine Légale, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille 2, Lille Cedex, France; and †Service de Médecine Légale, Centre Hospitalier Régional Félix Guyon, Saint-Denis Cedex, La Réunion, France.
• Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2015 Dec 1; 36 (4): 257-61.

AbstractFirearm suicides are frequent and well described in the forensic literature, particularly in Europe and the United States. However, the use of homemade and improvised firearms is less well described. The present case reports a suicide with an original improvised gun created using an air-compressed pellet gun and a dumbbell pipe. The aims of this study were to describe the scene, the external examination of the corpse, the body scan, and the autopsy; to understand the mechanism of death; and to compare the results with a review of the forensic literature to highlight the epidemiology of homemade firearm use, the tools used for homemade and improvised firearms in suicides versus homicides, and the manners in which homemade firearms are used (homicide or suicide, particularly in complex suicide cases).

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