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The three most dramatic shotgun wounds I ever saw were not to the face.

1. 20 gauge at nearly contact distance to the lower leg, nearly completely severing the foot just above the ankle.

2. 12 gauge from probably just a very few feet away to the calf muscle, removing a very large portion of it.

3. 12 gauge at muzzle contact distance to base of back of neck (this was an execution) at a downward angle. Victim was kneeling when shot from behind by executioner, and was brought in still alive and breathing with great difficulty. He was 19 years old, and he took a little bit of time to die....crying "they've killed me, killed me!" and begging us the whole time not to let him die. It was pretty bad. We cracked his chest as he was arresting, and the internal damage was just unbelievable. The initial muzzle blast and downward angle of the charge had vaporized part of C6, all of C7, and most of T1. The wound channel continued down through his left chest, destroying all of his left lung, peppering his heart, and with some pellets passing through his diaphragm into his abdomen. We found the shot cup/wad (whatever you want to call it) up against the upper surface of the diaphragm. The entrance wound was slightly larger than a 12 gauge muzzle diameter. I think that might have been due to burning and stretching.

That was by far one of the most emotionally difficult cases for me to have been involved in. The kid was executed by a drug dealer, presumably for a deal gone bad. He was no angel, but you just can't help feeling bad watching a young man die like that.

A shotgun can be a terrifying weapon in the right circumstances.

Jumping Frog wrote:Well, if people are tired of the .380 vs 9mm vs .45 arguing, we can always resurrect the birdshot versus buckshot argument.

The burglar ran half a block before collapsing. Want to bet the shotgun was loaded with birdshot? If he had been using buckshot or slugs, I don't believe Clint Eastwood's line about "blow your head clean off" is literally true, but I also doubt the guy would run half a block.

WARNING!!! Don't look if you don't have the stomach for it, but this is a facial shotgun wound: http://www.daviddsemsheadquarters.com/f ... licted.JPG