Police release photos of Kurt Cobain gun and death scene

Photographs of the shotgun Kurt Cobain used to kill himself have been released.

Seattle police reopened the investigation in 2014, 20 years after the the Nirvana frontman’s death, in anticipation of media inquiries.

The new photos, which were taken last June, feature cold case detective Michael Ciesynski holding the shotgun at different angles. Police did not say why they released the images to the public at this time.

Ciesynski had also developed three rolls of crime scene film which had sat dormant in the Cobain file. Though they contained no new evidence, they showed that the room Cobain was found in was bare of furniture except for one stool.

There were also photos of the then 27-year-old’s suicide note, wallet and drug paraphernalia.

Cobain’s body was found in Seattle on April 8, 1994. An investigation ruled his death a suicide.

Nirvana were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2014 – five days after the 20th anniversary of Cobain’s death. A biographical film depicting the late singer’s life, Montage Of Heck, was also released last year.

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.