Dude, that's nothing. Black people can apparently shoot themselves in a police cruiser in the front of their chests... while their hands are handcuffed behind their backs! Tada! Dead black man in a cop car, but it was a suicide [1].
In a press release issued March 3, the day he died, the Louisiana State
Police said Victor White III apparently shot himself in an Iberia Parish
police car. According to the police statement, White had his hands cuffed
behind his back when he shot himself in the back.
But according to the full final report of the Iberia Parish coroner, which
was released nearly six months later and obtained exclusively by NBC News,
White was shot in the front, not the back. The bullet entered his right
chest and exited under his left armpit. White was left-handed, according to
family members. According to the report, the forensic pathologist found
gunshot residue in the wound, but not the sort of stippling that a
close-range shot can sometimes produce. He also found abrasions on White’s
face. [1]
Apparently the two shots caused a stir at the time. The coroner acknowledges it sounds strange, but based on suicide notes, history of depression, suicidal actions (like getting rid of belongings), and apparent precedent of two shots in a suicide, they still believe that was the cause.
5 out of 138 (3.6%) in one study published in a journal. "Incapacitation by a shot to the head is achieved when the bullet penetrates the cerebrum; however, numerous bullet trajectories, including a shot between the eyes, do not achieve this penetration."[0]
I share the suspicion, but it's apparently likely enough, that you can't immediately conclude it wasn't suicide just because there were two shots.
As someone who survived a couple of bullets to the head over thirty years ago (one penetrating the skull and causing moderate optical cortical brain dameage) I can corroborate this...
Yeah, I agree, its just that Webb wasn't any normal suicide-his exposes on the CIA and their ilk just add a ton of fuel to the fire that you wouldn't have with a run of the mill suicide.
Look at the # of people who survive being shot in the head once, and you may see an answer to your confusion. A person can survive being shot in the head once, and if a person is suicidal the chance that they are lucid enough after the first shot to deliver the second is, often enough it seems, quite high.
A semi-automatic means that when you pull the trigger, a single bullet is fired. Its not a fully auto or anything of the sort. Still doesn't explain how you shoot yourself twice with a weapon that fires one round at a time.
It's rare, of course, but apparently happens sometimes. If the first shot doesn't disable, then more may be required.
As far as Gary Webb's case, it sounds like suicide, according to Wikipedia. He was apparently depressed, out of work, had lost his home, left a suicide note, and had his motorcycle stolen.
That's certainly interesting. How do you shoot yourself in the head twice?