Boomerang of bullet from the chest cavity—an autopsy case

Abstract

Abstract Background What if you fire a bullet and, like a boomerang, it comes back towards you after hitting the target, leaving no trace in the body. Case presentation A similar case was presented to us for an autopsy at the district mortuary, Aligarh, with a bullet unusually ricocheting within the thoracic cavity and taking almost path of incidence after grazing over the 3rd rib and coming out just closure to the entry wound towards the musketeer. The presence of stippling at both the entrance and exit wounds poses a challenge to interpreting the track of the injury. Conclusion Thorough and detailed examination at autopsy and crime-scene investigation revealed a strange ricochet event within the chest cavity.

Keywords

• Firearm injury
• Bullet
• Internal ricochet
• Chest cavity
• Autopsy
• Aligarh