Medical Examiner: 'Pulp Fiction' Actor Peter Greene Died After Accidental Shooting

The medical examiner has concluded that Peter Greene, known for his role in Pulp Fiction, died from an accidental gunshot wound that damaged a major artery, the office said, a determination released two months after he was found dead.

Pulp Fiction role noted as cause is released

The New York City medical examiner found the cause of death was a gunshot wound of the left axilla with injury of the brachial artery. The death was ruled an accident. Greene was discovered in his apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Dec. 12 (ET), and the determination was made public roughly two months later.

Medical examiner details and circumstances

The official finding specified that the gunshot to the left axilla damaged the brachial artery, a critical blood vessel supplying the arm. The medical examiner's office provided that cause and listed the death as accidental, but did not offer additional details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Greene, who had a career often cast in villainous turns and was widely recognized for his portrayal of the sadistic character Zed in Pulp Fiction, was 60 at the time he was found. The medical examiner's determination closes the formal inquiry into the immediate cause of death by detailing the wound and its impact.

Projects and legacy mentioned

Those close to Greene noted he was working on projects at the time of his death. His manager, Gregg Edwards, said Greene was involved with two projects, including a documentary that examined the federal government's withdrawal of funding from the U. S. Agency for International Development. The manager's remarks framed Greene as active professionally when the fatal injury occurred.

The release of the medical examiner's findings focuses public attention on the precise medical cause while leaving some contextual questions unanswered. The office's statement gave the specific medical cause—gunshot wound of the left axilla with injury of the brachial artery—and affirmed the ruling of accidental death, without further elaboration about the events inside the apartment.

This official determination arrives after weeks of uncertainty following Greene's discovery on Dec. 12 (ET). The medical details provided by the examiner clarify that the wound's location and the arterial injury were central to the fatal outcome. As Greene's ongoing projects and recent work are noted by his manager, the ruling shifts the narrative to the medical cause and the classification of the death as accidental.

Film fans and colleagues familiar with Greene's work, including his infamous role in Pulp Fiction, will receive this update as the concluding finding on how he died. The medical examiner's report supplies the technical cause and the classification that will stand in official records.