[Shotshell injuries--single or multiple shots?--a case report].

The case of a 64-year-old hunter who was accidentally shot at a distance of 40 meters with a shotgun by a member of hunting group was reported. At the scene, the victim was found dead and showed two bullet wounds in the left lateral chest and thigh, and a penetrated wound in the left knee. Autopsy findings revealed that the former two wounds were discharged from the left side of the body, and the last one in the knee from the right. The assailant and comrades who happened to be on the scene of the accident deposed that the only one shot sound was heard at that time. Whether quite different directions of these three wound tracks could be explained with single shot or multiple ones, we discussed the locus of the bullets in consideration of the posture of the victim.