Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 October 13
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October 13[edit]
Two shots into his own heart[edit]
The article Assassination of Nikolay Bobrikov states that after shooting Bobrikov, Eugen Schauman fired two shots into his own heart, dying instantly. This has left me wondering. If he died instantly, how did he have time to fire two shots instead of just one? Was the first bullet non-fatal? Are there any recorded sources of what exactly happened? It's not like I'm going to try this out myself, obviously. JIP | Talk 20:23, 13 October 2022 (UTC)
- Two shots? Eh. See multiple gunshot suicide for more of this sort of thing. Some instances have been really extreme.--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 22:01, 13 October 2022 (UTC)
- Maybe it depends on how "instantly" is defined. Maybe he was able to get two quick shots off before losing consciousness. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:41, 13 October 2022 (UTC)
- Firing a shot into your heart presumably wouldn't kill you 'instantly', even if it was indeed extremely quick. Even fully rupturing the heart, there is still blood in your body and brain function for a short time. I would assume a second shot to the head would be far more difficult to achieve if the first shot actually penetrated the brain. Having the wherewithal to withstand the shock and pain to allow the second shot to be fired in this situation is perhaps more impressive, but maybe if your finger is on the trigger and you already know you're going to keep pulling the trigger as many times as you can, you might get the second shot away before collapsing. Also note that the article says he used a Browning FN M1900, which was an early semi-automatic pistol, allowing him to get multiple shots away quickly. Presumably this would be much harder with say a classic six-shooter. --jjron (talk) 04:04, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
- Instantly is an imprecise term, and usually means "in an imprecisely defined but "short" (for any given range of shortness) period of time". It only takes a fraction of a second to reflexively pull a trigger, so it's entirely possible that he was able to fire the two shots in the time necessary to die. --Jayron32 12:07, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
- This article discusses the experiments of Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, who recorded concious responses in the heads of the very recently beheaded, which you would expect to cause even more sudden death than being shot in the heart. Alansplodge (talk) 12:51, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
- Just now I was reading some random articles and was surprised to come across a mention of someone committing suicide by shooting herself twice in the head. --174.95.81.219 (talk) 21:11, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
- This article discusses the experiments of Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, who recorded concious responses in the heads of the very recently beheaded, which you would expect to cause even more sudden death than being shot in the heart. Alansplodge (talk) 12:51, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
- Rick Blaine: And remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.
- Captain Renault: That is my least vulnerable spot. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:13, 14 October 2022 (UTC)