Tandem bullets: case report and ballistic analysis

Background: In forensic ballistics, the phenomenon of tandem bullets occurs when two or more bullets are ejected from the barrel of a firearm in a single shot. The injuries caused by these bullets have been described in the literature and include several possibilities, whose severity seems to be especially related to the mass increase of the exploded cartridges and to the distance at which the shots are fired, as a result of the sudden drop in kinetic energy that occurs. Case presentation: We report the case of a subject hit by a tandem bullet, during an attempted robbery, describing the injury reported in relation to the ballistic analysis of the case and examining the dynamics in which this circumstance occurred. Conclusions: The ballistic analysis conducted in our case confirmed that the harmful potential of “tandem bullets” is inversely correlated to the mass of the fired bullets. In our case, the exploded shot, consisting of two 38 Special caliber bullets fused together, hit the body of the subject involved with minimal kinetic energy and penetrating potential. We believe that further ballistic studies should be conducted on a cadaveric model by exploiting cadaveric donation programs for scientific research purposes, in order to investigate the wide spectrum of possible injuries that can occur, also simulating the effects of unjacketed tandem bullets.