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Can a person die instantly without getting shot in the head?

  • 30-09-2010 1:38pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,005 ✭✭✭


    I was reading a Notorious B.I.G biography, and it said he got shot in the chest and stomach. Puff Daddy ran to him seconds later but by then saw a blank stare in BIGs eyes and he was slumped over.

    I thought only a head shot would mean instant death?

    EDIT: I am referring exclusively to gunshot/stab wounds. Not far off methods which would obviously mean death. (bombs, run over by a truck, hit by a train, etc)
    Tagged:


«13

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,282 ✭✭✭Glico Man


    Shot to the heart would kill you instantly I would think


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    There are lots of ways you can die instantly that don't involve being shot in the head.

    Spontaneous combustion would be one of them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,806 ✭✭✭✭KeithM89_old


    Fairly sure a Nuclear blast would mean instant death... :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭Notorious97


    Biggie was shot a few times, i remember reading Lil Cease saying he could smell urine and all so he knew he was dead more or less within minutes. In before people start abusing him on this forum lol, seeing as its the person i named myself after on boards :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,534 ✭✭✭SV


    Shot through the back of the neck severing the final link to the CNS would also kill instantly.
    Otherwise, then no.

    Even a shot to the heart wouldn't kill you instantly, it would be quite quick..but not instant.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,778 ✭✭✭Pauleta


    Id say it will take a couple of seconds to die from a shot to the heart (and you're to blame, you give love a bad name du du du du ) Sorry :D. I would say a shot to the back of the neck on the spinal cord could do the job.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,007 ✭✭✭Phill Ewinn


    Off the top of my head, decapitation can kill instantly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭It wasn't me!


    Shooting to vital organs is quick, but by no means instantaneous, whether it be brain or cardio-pulmonary system. Now, it may be quick enough that for all intents and purposes, it could be described as such, but in actual fact, there's no such thing.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,595 ✭✭✭bonerm


    aaronh007 wrote: »
    Shot to the heart would kill you instantly

    It also gives love a bad name.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,252 ✭✭✭✭stovelid


    CorkMan wrote: »
    Puff Daddy ran to him seconds later but by then saw a blank stare in his BIGs eyes and he was slumped over.

    Bring a tear to the eye, one must admit.

    We were that close to having two-for-the-price-of- one.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,252 ✭✭✭✭stovelid


    bonerm wrote: »
    It also gives love a bad name.

    This is one of those posts that you just wish so bad that it was one of your own.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 86,327 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    CorkMan wrote: »
    I was reading a Notorious B.I.G biography, and it said he got shot in the chest and stomach. Puff Daddy ran to him seconds later but by then saw a blank stare in his BIGs eyes and he was slumped over.

    I thought only a head shot would mean instant death?

    EDIT: I am referring exclusively to gunshot/stab wounds. Not far off methods which would obviously mean death. (bombs, run over by a truck, hit by a train, etc)
    He could have been knocked cold from the trauma, but without a pulse, probably went braindead minutes later.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,327 ✭✭✭Sykk


    Poor Corkman.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭Notorious97


    stovelid wrote: »
    Bring a tear to the eye, one must admit.

    We were that close to having two-for-the-price-of- one.

    They were in two different cars when Biggie got shot. Puff Daddy had to run out and up to Bigs car. Theres amateur footage on youtube of somebody filming biggie leaving, and they follow his car on camera but arent quick enough turning it around but you hear the shots and all.

    In other news Tupacs still alive lol :pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,178 ✭✭✭✭NothingMan


    aaronh007 wrote: »
    Shot to the heart would kill you instantly I would think
    stovelid wrote: »
    This is one of those posts that you just wish so bad that it was one of your own.


    It was also posted a few postes above by Pauleta, albeit in a slightly different way. I thanked her instead.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,943 ✭✭✭abouttobebanned


    stovelid wrote: »
    This is one of those posts that you just wish so bad that it was one of your own.

    And this is one of those posts that you wish so bad was made about one of your own :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,252 ✭✭✭✭stovelid


    NothingMan wrote: »
    It was also posted a few postes above by Pauleta, albeit in a slightly different way. I thanked her instead.

    I've spent my thanks. I'm too old to go a second time so soon. :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,595 ✭✭✭bonerm


    NothingMan wrote: »
    It was also posted a few postes above by Pauleta, albeit in a slightly different way. I thanked her instead.

    Yeah in fairness that guy got there first. Didn't see it myself. I have have a habit of not reading anything other than the OP and trickles from my own posts.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,175 ✭✭✭Red_Marauder


    Cutting the twinned carotid arteries and nerves would effectively kill you immediately (they're the bits that stick out in Deirdre Barlow's neck when she's angry). It's how animals are killed for Muslim Halal - bloody but very humane.

    Trauma to the heart, in theory, would be a slower more painful death.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,397 ✭✭✭✭Degsy


    Hydrostatic shock will kill you even if the round doesnt enter a vital area.

    Besides the man was grossly overweight...his heart probably stopped when he heard the shots.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,005 ✭✭✭CorkMan


    Degsy wrote: »
    Hydrostatic shock will kill you even if the round doesnt enter a vital area.

    Besides the man was grossly overweight...his heart probably stopped when he heard the shots.

    He was 28 stone when he was shot. 6'3 in height.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,453 ✭✭✭jugger0


    What caliber ammunition was used? 7.62 to the chest would end you pretty quick.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,005 ✭✭✭CorkMan


    He used a "blue steel 9-millimeter semi-automatic".


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,397 ✭✭✭✭Degsy


    CorkMan wrote: »
    He was 28 stone when he was shot. 6'3 in height.


    Fat cnunt..no danger of the hitman missing!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,909 ✭✭✭✭Wertz


    Overheal wrote: »
    He could have been knocked cold from the trauma, but without a pulse, probably went braindead minutes later.

    There's them that would've said he was braindead long before the bullet ever left the chamber. Not me though. *makes gang signs*

    Fairly sure that crush injuries from a large falling object with a lot of mass/momentum will kill instantaneously. Large enough electrical discharge will kill outright as well.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,595 ✭✭✭bonerm


    CorkMan wrote: »
    He was 28 stone when he was shot. 6'3 in height.

    The fall probably killed him.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,397 ✭✭✭✭Degsy


    bonerm wrote: »
    The fall probably killed him.


    What,you mean the band?

    Was Mark Smith questioned?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,163 ✭✭✭✭danniemcq


    CorkMan wrote: »
    I was reading a Notorious B.I.G biography, and it said he got shot in the chest and stomach. Puff Daddy ran to him seconds later but by then saw a blank stare in BIGs eyes and he was slumped over.

    Jesus man spoiler warnings...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,468 ✭✭✭✭Blazer


    danniemcq wrote: »
    Jesus man spoiler warnings...

    there's a statute of limitation :)
    http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215535297_B2j5j-L-2.jpg


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,674 ✭✭✭Faith+1


    I wonder how long it takes to die after you eat your own head?:confused:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭cynder


    even being shot in the head does not guarantee instant death, one guy tried it and the bullet ricocheted out his eye.

    i think top marks for squishing (crushing like a 10 ton weight being dropped on your head).

    also some car crashes have resulted in instant death

    being blown apart by a big bomb in close proximity or a really big bomb and not immediate area (like a nuke)

    breaking the neck (a proper break)

    decapitation (even though some say the head can still be alive up to 10 seconds after ) i dont wanna try it to find out.....

    if you want a little laugh

    http://flashpasteurized.blogspot.com/2010/01/touching-wires-causes-instant-death.html


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    even being shot in the head does not guarantee instant death, one guy tried it and the bullet ricocheted out his eye.

    Yeah but I heard that there's a place in your head where if you shoot it at the exact right spot, your head explodes.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭cynder


    Yeah but I heard that there's a place in your head where if you shoot it at the exact right spot, your head explodes.

    you wanna try????

    thought not

    I think massive heart attack and blood clots are in there too, along with a massive overdose of an opium based drug. i think that a massive dose of insulin would result in a quick death,

    This is so morbid why are we talking about it?

    think you should take up biology and then get a job in a clinic in switzerland.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,909 ✭✭✭✭Wertz


    Faith+1 wrote: »
    I wonder how long it takes to die after you eat your own head?:confused:

    Go for it. We'll time you.


  • Registered Users Posts: 580 ✭✭✭waffleman


    Faith+1 wrote: »
    I wonder how long it takes to die after you eat your own head?:confused:

    If you put your mind to it I'm sure you could find out**




    **I'll get my coat


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,326 ✭✭✭Scuid Mhór


    aaronh007 wrote: »
    Shot to the heart would kill you instantly I would think

    i always wondered why people who murder themselves on television shows/in books don't shoot their hearts but instead go for the head. stronger imagery or a misconception that a shot through the temple is the only foolproof way to go?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭Tandey


    Sure wasn't 50 cent shot 9 times hardy cnut that lad and even got shot in the face and is alive to this day lol


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,551 ✭✭✭SeaFields


    I is no doctor person but i imagine as long as there is oxygenated blood in your brain you would be aware of whats happening around you (as long as you dont fall unconscious). I suppose there is a blury line between truama that causes you to fall unconscious instantly but your technically still alive for a bit and actually being dead instantly.

    /what a morbid fcuking post :eek:


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,183 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    even being shot in the head does not guarantee instant death, one guy tried it and the bullet ricocheted out his eye.
    Yea and even a shot to the base of the brain, might not be instant. It could look like it, but to the person may not feel like it. It might depend on the calibre too. A bigger round would also cause a massive trauma causing instant coma I would have thought.
    i think top marks for squishing (crushing like a 10 ton weight being dropped on your head).

    also some car crashes have resulted in instant death
    Massive blunt force trauma that destroys the entire pain feeling mechanism kinda thing


    breaking the neck (a proper break)

    decapitation (even though some say the head can still be alive up to 10 seconds after ) i dont wanna try it to find out.....
    Or mix both like in a judicial long drop hanging. It's essentially an internal decapitation, but the sudden shock at the end would likely render the person instantly into a deep coma. A neck break on its own may not.

    Decapitation like the guillotine may not be instant like you said. One experiment in the late 1800 is france seemed to show that its not and it was more like 30 seconds not 10 where there was some conscious brain activity. :eek::eek:

    1 large calibre round to the heart that ripped it apart would be pretty instant though. Under 10/20 seconds anyway.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭Tandey


    SeaFields wrote: »
    I is no doctor person but i imagine as long as there is oxygenated blood in your brain you would be aware of whats happening around you (as long as you dont fall unconscious). I suppose there is a blury line between truama that causes you to fall unconscious instantly but your technically still alive for a bit and actually being dead instantly.

    /what a morbid fcuking post :eek:

    AYYYEEEEE Ali G


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    i always wondered why people who murder themselves on television shows/in books don't shoot their hearts but instead go for the head. stronger imagery or a misconception that a dhot through the temple is the only foolproof way to go?
    Probably that, but there are a number of other reasons too:

    1. General confusion over the location of the heart. Is it on the left, in the middle, where is it? There's not that much confusion over the location of your brain. That said, a large number of people have managed to "miss" their brain and simply shoot themselves in the side of the face or out the back of their lower skull.

    2. Protection: Your heart is mostly protected by ribs and a big feck off sternum. A pistol may not have the punch necessary to go through this and sufficiently damage your heart. Owies-ville. Your brain on the other hand is vulnerable through the roof of your mouth, no protection.

    3. Practicality - take a shotgun and try to hold it steady, horizontally, pointing towards your chest and with your thumb on the trigger. Now stick the barrels into your mouth, pointing upwards. Infinitely easier. A pistol too you can hold in the traditional way while pointing towards the roof of your mouth.

    In reality, unless your brain is vaporised, crushed or split into chunks then there's no way that we can say someone was killed "instantly". People have managed to remove portions of their brain with a bullet and live to tell the tale, so we've no reason to think that a fatal bullet in the brain doesn't give a couple of seconds of consciousness before expiring. Experiments done in the 16th or 17th century on guillotined convicts proved fairly conclusively that they head does survive independently of the body after being removed. For a couple of seconds anyway.

    Any other form of death - massive embolisms, massive heart attacks, aortic aneurysms - will result in a very quick death (matter of seconds) but it's doubtful that you're gone instantly.

    Contrary to what FPS's would teach us, a headshot does not necessarily result in guaranteed or instant death.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,240 ✭✭✭Iron Hide


    Yeah but I heard that there's a place in your head where if you shoot it at the exact right spot, your head explodes.

    The medulla oblongata i think is what your referring to, on the back of your head, just above where your head and neck join.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medulla_oblongata


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭Notorious97


    Tandey wrote: »
    Sure wasn't 50 cent shot 9 times hardy cnut that lad and even got shot in the face and is alive to this day lol

    Tupac was hot in the head first time around also and lived for two more years before somebody shot him again.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,456 ✭✭✭✭Mr Benevolent


    What is this piss? Who gives a shit about some made-up gangster?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭Tandey


    Tupac was hot in the head first time around also and lived for two more years before somebody shot him again.

    I reckon fiddy was shot maybe 4/5 times but just added a few extra ones in there when he became a good rapper, ive seen him on Jonathan Ross and only ever seen him show about 3 bullet wounds, just my theory.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭Notorious97


    Tandey wrote: »
    I reckon fiddy was shot maybe 4/5 times but just added a few extra ones in there when he became a good rapper, ive seen him on Jonathan Ross and only ever seen him show about 3 bullet wounds, just my theory.


    Lol i don’t know if he made it up, i know after the one in the side of the face he sounds alot different rapping, but could have added a fewin for good measure im sure!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,397 ✭✭✭✭azezil


    To quote the Borg: "Biological organism: Human. Sever spinal cord below third vertebrae. Death is immediate." ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,692 ✭✭✭Dublin_Gunner


    Pretty sure a hatchet or any other implement like a sword or even a javelin through the skull would be fairly instantaneous.

    Grenade beside head too.

    Massive trauma to the head by something like a large weight dropped or a hammer blow etc could also be potentially instantaneous.

    I would imagine massive heart trauma like a gunshot or stabbing etc would not result in instant death - at least no more instant than decapitation - probably would survive longer due to the blood not being able to leave the brain as quickly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,976 ✭✭✭✭humanji


    I think it was Steven Wright who said: "We all die instantly. You're alive. You're alive. You're alive. You're dead." So the answer to the OP would be yes.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,183 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    seamus wrote: »
    People have managed to remove portions of their brain with a bullet and live to tell the tale, so we've no reason to think that a fatal bullet in the brain doesn't give a couple of seconds of consciousness before expiring. Experiments done in the 16th or 17th century on guillotined convicts proved fairly conclusively that they head does survive independently of the body after being removed. For a couple of seconds anyway.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine#Living_heads

    The diffs would come from the track of the bullet and calibre I'd reckon. In the case of the guillotined head the brain itself is untruamatised and has all its apparatus functioning. So in the case of being guillotined you'd probably first feel like your falling(your inner ear would signal that) and you would try to brace your fall with your hands, but you'd have no arms, then the O2 still kicking around in your head would keep you conscious for a few seconds, depending on the individual and youd probably feel pain from the severed neck too. Nasty. I remember reading of some tribe or other who would attach the condemneds head to a springy sapling, so that when they chopped the head off it would feel like the person was flying to heaven. Nasty again. :eek:

    With a large calibre round or a shotgun, the apparatus of the brain itself would be damaged instantly so much less chance of conscious thought. Particularly in the case of a surprise shot, rather than a planned self inflicted shot? That's one of the worst aspects of execution, the knowing its about to happen.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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