A pro-gun lawyer was shot dead by his own pistol when he entered a hospital scanner room and the powerful MRI wrenched it out of his belt and set it off.

Leandro Mathias, 40, was hit by a single bullet in the stomach after the scanner’s powerful magnetics rapidly pulled the gun towards it.

The pistol slammed into the machine, releasing a round Mathias had kept in the 9mm handgun’s chamber in the bizarre shooting.

The bullet came within inches of hitting two medical staff before it hit the lawyer, according to local media in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Mathias had been accompanying his mother while she had a medical scan at the Cura laboratory on 16th January. He died on Monday, 6th February.

Both had signed declarations that they were not carrying any metal.

But Mathias had kept hold of his loaded handgun and an extra magazine with 30 bullets in it, according to local media.

One of Mathias’ friends reportedly said on social media: “Devastated by this news. Unfortunately, my friend has left for the Kingdom of Heaven.

“The Earth has become small with your absence, but heaven is rejoicing with your arrival, I will miss our conversations, my friend, one day we will meet again.”

Mathias, who had 7,000 followers on TikTok and answered people’s questions about guns, was reportedly registered as a gun collector, a sports shooter and a hunter.

Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is a noninvasive medical imaging machine that uses radio waves and powerful magnets, which produce a strong magnetic field.

They can produce detailed images of almost every part of the human body, including organs, muscles, bones, and blood vessels.