{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T20:57:04Z","timestamp":1772571424442,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":10,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763510400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763510400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005788","name":"Medical University of Vienna","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005788","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int J Legal Med"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Pepper spray guns have gained popularity as self-defense weapons in recent years. Marketed as \u201cless-lethal,\u201d these devices are designed to be easy to use, accurate, and capable of deterring assailants without causing permanent harm. We present a case of a 53-year-old man who sustained a fatal injury caused by a JPX6 Jet Protector pepper spray gun. The device was found in close proximity to the body at the scene. External examination revealed a small entry wound and a triangular, burned stretch zone in the right inguinal area. The cause of death was exsanguination due to laceration of the right internal iliac artery (A. iliaca interna dextra). To our knowledge, this is the first documented fatality caused by a JPX6 Jet Protector.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Following this incident, we have conducted a series of ballistic soap experiments using the JPX6 to evaluate its potential for skin and soft tissue penetration, especially at distances shorter than the manufacturer\u2019s recommended safety distance of 1.5 meters. Our findings confirmed tissue-penetrating capacity at distances as short as point-blank, 10 cm, 20 cm, and 40 cm.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>We\u00a0emphasize the potentially lethal capabilities of pepper spray launchers, particularly when used\u00a0at close range and by untrained individuals, and advocate their recognition as potential weapons\u00a0of homicide during forensic scene investigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00414-025-03645-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T00:59:18Z","timestamp":1763513958000},"page":"1251-1258","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fatal, self-inflicted injury caused by a pepper spray gun"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"140","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-7018-7863","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zsofia","family":"Hajdu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brita","family":"Leyrer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Clemens","family":"Reiter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"3645_CR1","unstructured":"Tidwell RD, Wills BK (2023) Tear Gas and Pepper Spray Toxicity. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; May 13"},{"issue":"6","key":"3645_CR2","first-page":"542","volume":"21","author":"YM Man-Fan Yeung, William","year":"2015","unstructured":"Man-Fan Yeung, William YM, Tang (2015) Clinicopathological effects of pepper (oleoresin capsicum) spray. Hong Kong Med J 21(6):542\u2013552","journal-title":"Hong Kong Med J"},{"key":"3645_CR3","unstructured":"Bowling M, Gaines M, Petty CS (2023 Effectiveness and safety of pepper spray. National Institute of Justice. Apr. Report No.: NCJ 195739"},{"key":"3645_CR4","unstructured":"Piexon AG (2017) Aug JPX6 Jet Protector - User Manual (Switzerland\/Austria version). Aarwangen, Switzerland: Piexon AG; Available from: https:\/\/piexon.com"},{"key":"3645_CR5","unstructured":"North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO policy on non-lethal weapons. Brussels: NATO (2008) Nov 6. Available from: https:\/\/www.nato.int\/cps\/en\/natohq\/official_texts_27417.htm"},{"issue":"2","key":"3645_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"609","DOI":"10.1007\/s00414-022-02936-5","volume":"137","author":"A Weber","year":"2023","unstructured":"Weber A, W\u00f6ss C, Kneubuehl BP, Rabl W (2023) Skin laceration caused by a short distance shot from a pepper spray launcher: a case report. Int J Legal Med 137(2):609\u2013612. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00414-022-02936-5","journal-title":"Int J Legal Med"},{"key":"3645_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111374","DOI":"10.1016\/j.forsciint.2022.111374","volume":"337","author":"B Jo\u00e3o","year":"2022","unstructured":"Jo\u00e3o B (2022) Cl\u00e9ment Sautier, Lucie Krebs-Drouot, Patrick Henry, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Paysant, Vincent Scolan. Death and non-lethal weapons: a case of homicide by penetrating injury without projectile. Forensic Sci Int 337:111374. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.forsciint.2022.111374","journal-title":"Forensic Sci Int"},{"issue":"3","key":"3645_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3892\/mmr.2024.13162","volume":"29","author":"W Zhang","year":"2024","unstructured":"Zhang W, Zhang Y, Feng JFZ, Song X (2024) Pharmacological activity of capsaicin: mechanisms and controversies (Review). Mol Med Rep 29(3):38. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3892\/mmr.2024.13162","journal-title":"Mol Med Rep"},{"key":"3645_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"612480","DOI":"10.3389\/fncel.2020.612480","volume":"14","author":"M Yaroslav","year":"2021","unstructured":"Yaroslav M, Shuba (2021) Beyond neuronal heat sensing: diversity of TRPV1 heat-capsaicin receptor-channel functions. Front Cell Neurosci 14:612480. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fncel.2020.612480","journal-title":"Front Cell Neurosci"},{"issue":"1","key":"3645_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e54760","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0054760","volume":"8","author":"MW Benjamin","year":"2013","unstructured":"Benjamin MW, Illigens CH, Gibbons (2013) A human model of small fiber neuropathy to study wound healing. PLoS ONE 8(1):e54760. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0054760","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Legal Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s00414-025-03645-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00414-025-03645-5","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s00414-025-03645-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T20:03:06Z","timestamp":1772568186000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s00414-025-03645-5"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]]},"references-count":10,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]}},"alternative-id":["3645"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00414-025-03645-5","relation":{},"ISSN":["0937-9827","1437-1596"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0937-9827","type":"print"},{"value":"1437-1596","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]]},"assertion":[{"value":"16 June 2025","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"15 October 2025","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"19 November 2025","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interest"}}]}}