FIRE ARM INJURIES

Bhavyashree Rai
TERMINAL BALLISTICS-
 Terminal Ballistics- It is the motion /
behaviour of the projectile at the target or
inside the target. It is also known as Wound
Ballistics.
DEFINITION
 Wound ballistics is concerned with the
wounding phenomenon. It involves terminal
ballistics.
 “ Firearm wounding is a special form of
trauma producing a breech through the
body of a person by a bullet or shot
charge
 Ballistics

T
H Interior ballistics
E
O
R Wound ballistics
E
T
I Exterior ballistics
C
A
L
Clear Concept
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WOUND BALLISTICS
 It studies how a projectile creates the wound
and causes the destruction of tissues by its
movements on and after entering the body,
its travel inside and the exit from the body.
WOUND BALLISTICS
 WOUNDING MECHANISM When a projectile
strikes the human body, it depresses and
compresses the skin, flesh and bone
underneath.
WOUND BALLISTICS
 The continued pressure stretches them
beyond the elastic limits and a hole is
created.
 The stretched skin regains its normal state
after the hole is created and the bullet has
entered inside.
WOUND BALLISTICS
 The diameter of the hole on the skin,
therefore appears, on the non-stretched skin
somewhat smaller than the size of the
projectile which created the wound, when it
was stretched
WOUNDING MECHANISM
 The minimum velocity required to penetrate
the human skin has been found to be 40 to
50 metres per second.
 The threshold velocity for the penetration of
a bone is 60 meter per second.
WOUND BALLISTICS
 The projectile continues its onwards progress
till it leaves the body through an exit hole,
or, till its energy is spent beforehand, in
overcoming the resistance.
 The projectile is found lodged at the end of
the tunnel, in later cases.
ELEMENTS OF WOUND
BALLISTICS
 Wound ballistics has following important
elements
 1. Nature of target.
 2. Velocity of projectiles.
 3. Constructional features of projectiles.
 4. Range.
 Constructional Features & Wounding
Capability
.
FIREARM INJURIES
 The projectiles fired by firearm have certain
shapes, velocities and kinetic energies which
differ from most of the other agents causing
injuries.
FIREARM INJURIES
 The shapes of wound, the destructive effect
on the tissues, presence of foreign bodies (of
specific shapes and composition) and the
projectile track help to identify whether the
given injury is a firearm injury or not.
FIREARM INJURIES
 The evaluation of the injuries clarify if the
given injury is
 1. a firearm injury or not.
 2. an entrance wound or an exit wound.
 3. post-mortem or ante-mortem injury.
 4. from the alleged firearm.
 5. fatal or not.
FIREARM INJURIES
 6. such that a person could perform the
alleged acts after receiving the given
injuries.
 7. of alleged age.
 8. caused from alleged distance.
FIREARM INJURIES
 Firearm-wound complex has four parts:
1. An entry wound
2. A track with its direction
3. Place of resting of bullet or shot-charge.
4. Exit wound

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ENTRY WOUND-
 The distance between muzzle end of the fire
arm and target is called the range

 The wounds have certain characteristics

which permit their identification without
difficulties
RANGE
 1. contact range
 2. close range
 3. Near Range
 4. Distance range
ABRASION COLLAR
 During the bullet’s attempt at performing the
skin while entering, due to spin, the edge of
the entrance wound may be abraded in the
form of a collar, which is termed the abrasion
collar or Areola
CONTACT RANGE
 In some cases there is contusion instead of
abrasion in which case is more appropriate,
it is called as Contusion collar
 The diameter of the entry hole together with
the abrasion collar may give the approximate
diamter of the bullet
SHAPE OF THE ENTRY WOUND DEPENDING
ON ANGLE OF BULLET ENTRY
ENTRY WOUND
 SINGLE HOLE:
 SIZE : depends upon skin elasticity, explosive
blast effect of gases so either proportionate to
the diameter of the bullet, SMALLER or much
larger having STELLATE SHAPE.

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 SHAPE: depending upon the angle of
firearm with the target. Circular, Oval,
Elliptical, An elongated furrow.
 Inverted margins. upon the angle of
firearm with the target.
FLAME
FLAME

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BURNING
BURNING

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SMOKE
SMOKE

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 Carbon
Carbonparticles
particlesscattered
scattered
on
onHISTOLOGICAL
HISTOLOGICAL
examination
examination

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Burning: Few inches in case of Blackening: Absent after one
revolver & one foot in case of a yard
Shotgun

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TATTOOING (DUE TO UNBURNT GUNPOWDER PARTICLES)
Beyond
Beyond22yards,
yards,
“ They pierce under the superficial skin layers causing tattooing
tattooing isnot
is not
punctate abrasions of smaller blood vessels under the present
present
skin “

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Un-burnt gunpowder particles pierce the skin while blood
stains are washable

Tattooing Blood stains

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Key
Keyhole
holeor
orSlit
Slitlike
likeentry
entrywound
wound

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Collar
CollarOf
OfAbrasion
Abrasion

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CLASSIFICATION OF FIREARM RIFLED ENTRY WOUND
DEPENDING UPON DISTANCE/RANGE

Contact entry wound

Hard/Firm contact

Loose contact
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FEATURES OF ENTRY WOUND
 Lacks exterior residue.  As small gap between
 No imprints of components of body & weapon.
fire externally.  Circular defect.
 Burning, blackening,  Collar of abrasion.
tattooing present in the track
or interior of wound or on  Circular soot material.
intervening bone.  Tattooing, blackening &
 Pinkish discoloration due to burning in the wound
CoHb. track.
 Muzzle imprint on close  No scorching, singeing
examination. externally.
 Entry wound of variable  Muzzle imprint.
shape with collar of abrasion.
 Pinkish discoloration
FIRM CONTACT LOOSE CONTACT

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CLOSE RANGE FIREARM ENTRY WOUND
 Examination of clothes is important
 Burning, blackening, tattooing present
 Collar of abrasion present
 Grease collar / Dirt collar may be present
 Margins may be inverted
 Wad maybe present in the track in case of smooth
bored firearm

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FEATURES OF ENTRY WOUND
 Barrel is held close to  Within 1 – 2 yard
skin in the range of  Hole
flame & smoke.  Collar of abrasion.
 Central defect.
 Inverted margins.
 Collar of abrasion.
 Blackening fades.
 Inverted margins.
 Tattooing present
 Burning, scorching,
singeing, blackening
& tattooing present.

NEAR DISTANT INTERMEDIATE RANGE

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FEATURES OF ENTRY WOUND:
DISTANT RANGE
 Hole
 Collar of Abrasion
 Grease collar inside the collar of abrasion
also called smudge ring
 No flame & gun powder effect.

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 1. The wounds are circular or oval in most of
the cases. Key hole wounds are also formed
by wobbling bullets.

 2. The diameter of the entrance hole is,

ordinarily slightly less than the diameter of
the projectile creating the hole.
 3. The edges are compressed inward – they
are inverted.

 4. A contusion ring is found around the

wound in most of the times.
 The ring is dark red to bluish-black
depending upon its age.
 5. The dirt or wipe ring is not always present
but whenever it is present, it is a sure sign of
an entry wound.

 6. Burning of skin, flesh or singeing of hair is

caused when the shot is fired from a close
range.
 The scorched skin, when it is available, it
identifies the entry wound.
 7. GSR deposits are from close range firing
only. They also identify the entrance wound
whenever they are available.
 8. The presence of a muzzle impression
around the wound.
 9. Sometimes the bullet carries the GSR in
their flight from the ejecta, from the barrel
fouling and deposit on the edges or inside
the entrance hole.
EXTRANEOUS DEPOSITS
 Extraneous deposits around the wound are
from the following sources
 1. Propellant burned powder (smoke), semi
burnt and unburnt propellant.
 2. Primer residue.
 3. Projectile, Cartridge Case and barrel
material (from fouling and bore scraping).
 4. Intermediate targets.
 The extent of extraneous deposit depends
upon
 1. The weapon.
 2. The ammunition.
 3. The range.
 4. The angle of fire.
 5. The target characteristics.
PINK COLORATION
 If a shot is fired from a very close range or in
contact with the skin, some carbon monoxide
(produced in the combustion of propellants)
gets absorbed in the skin and flesh.
 It gives a pink coloration to the skin around
the wound which indicates firearm injury and
injury from a close range
 CHARRING, SCORCHING, BURNING, SINGEING
etc.- These are the effects of flame or hot
gases produced in the combustion of
propellants.
 The charring is caused when the shot is fired
from a very close range. The size, shape and
extent are characteristic of the firearm and
range.
 The Charring is often confused with the
Blackening, Tattooing, Dirt Ring or even with
Contusion Ring.
 The Charring is different from Blackening.
The later can be removed with a cotton swab
moistened with spirit while the former
cannot be removed in this way
BLACKENING
 The blackening is caused by the smoke
deposits. The smoke particles are light. They
do not travel afar.
 Therefore, smoke deposit i.e. blackening is
limited to a short range.
 The colour of smoke is grey to black in black
powder and light grey to dark grey in
smokeless powder.
TATTOOING
 The tattooing is also known as peppering or
stippling.
 It is the deposit of unburnt or semi-burnt
powder particles under the skin.
 Tattooing, ordinarily, cannot be removed
with a swab
DIRT RING OR PROJECTILE WIPE RING

 The dirt ring is deposited by some projectile

around the wound..
 The materials come from
 1. The projectile may carry grease on them.
The dirt gets collected on the grease which,
in turn, gets deposited around the wound.
 2. Deposit of soot/GSR present on bullet. The
projectile pick up the soot/GSR from the
powder ejecta which rush past the
projectiles inside or outside the barrel
 3. Dirt due to intermediate target (clothes,
mud walls etc.) or from the surface from
which the projectile has ricocheted.
 4. In shot gun ammunition, the pellets and
buck shots are rubbed with graphite.
 A small amount of graphite is carried by the
projectiles which they deposit around the
entry hole.
 The lead bullets may also blacken the edges
of the entry wound.
 FOREIGN MATERIALThe projectile or their
fragments and sometimes the wads are found
inside the body, these may also indicate the
nature of firearm used.
CONTUSION
 The edges of wound are contused by the
impact of the projectile. The colour of
contusion varies from reddish dark to bluish
black.
 The contusions are in the form of a band
around the wound and are often of uniform
width. The tissues are ruptured and swollen.
EXIT WOUND

 All exit wounds, irrespective of range of

firing, the following identifying features
 1. They have no fixed shape or size.
 Usually they are larger than entry wound and
are irregular.
 2. The eversion of edges and the direction of
pushed or pressed out flesh, indicate the exit
wound.
CONTACT FIREARM ENTRY WOUND
Stellate Firearm wound

 Muzzle of firearm pressed hard on some hard bony

area as forehead / skull
 Gases can’t enter skull & escape from sides
causing lacerations in the scalp
 Star shaped projections in scalp
 Components of shot present inside skull in the
track

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 3. The presence of projectile, fixed in the
exit wound.
 4. If the entry wound is established and a
probe through this wound comes out of
another wound. The later is obviously an exit
wound.
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Plastic
PlasticWAD
WADstruck
struckwith
withthe
thewall
wall

12/29/2023 66
FIREARM EXIT WOUND
 There may be no exit wound
 May be multiple exit wounds of one entry wound due
to Secondary missiles
 May be large typical exit wound with everted margins
 No close range characteristics
 Shored exit wound: Collar of abrasion present
Bullet through a glass
Intermediate
Intermediatetail
tail
wag
wag
Secondary
Secondary
misslies
misslies

25 12/29/2023
5/1/2004
67
SHOT GUN WOUNDS
 Contact shotgun wound are most destructive
 Bursting rupture of head is rule rather than
exception
 Skull may be largely fragmented leading to Egg-
shell fractures
 Scalp is extensively lacerated

“ The unfavourable ballistic shape of shotgun pallets combined

With lack of stabilizing spin, causes a rapid fall-off in velocity &
Thus Kinetic energy “ by Naseeb R. Awan

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Contact
ContactShotgun
Shotgunwound
wound

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SHOTGUN ENTRY WOUND COMPLEX

Fanning
phenomenon

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Pallets traveling in a single mass & wad getting behind
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 Shot gun Firearm wounds

Entry Wound  The diameter of spread of

 By contact to 2 ft birdshot pallets on body in “inches “ is
produces a single wound roughly equal to the distance
 By 3 ft there will be Rat-hole
from muzzle in “yards”
type of entry wound
 Wad may travel upto 6 ft &
 By 4 ft scattered satellite
may be found in track of
injury within that distance
pallet holes
 By 10 ft there is great
 Biliard Ball Ricochetting
phenomenon: Important in
variation in type of entry
giving distance of fire
wound
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THIS “COOKIE CUTTER” TYPE WOUND SHOWS A FEW
SEPARATE PELLET INJURIES FORMING AS THE DISTANCE
INCREASES. THIS
IS NOT A SUICIDE.

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LOOSE CONTACT SHOTGUN WOUND AND A
LARGER, MORE
RAGGED EXIT WOUND.

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BILIARD BALL RICOCHETTING PHENOMENON

Misguides
distance of fire

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IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Beveling of skull bone
 Bone of skull is dipoc (has 2 layers).
 Table which is struck first by projectile is supported
from below so has comparatively small circular hole &
clean margins.
 Table which is 2nd to be struck has no support so has a
bigger irregular hole & beveled margins.

M/L importance
• Gives direction of fire

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HANDELING FIREARM INJURIES
 .1. Observe and record all major or minor,
internal or external injuries.
 2. Describe fully the wound of entrance, the
internal track and the lodgement site or the
exit wound.
 Give serial number to each injury. The
description should contain (whenever
possible)
 (a) The possible nature of firearm. (b)The
presence or absence of GSR. (c) The
direction of fire and deflection (if any).
 (d)The presence or absence of any
extraneous matter or the projectile from the
intermediate target or from the ricocheting
surface.
 (e) The condition of projectile : Whole ?
Deformed ? Fragmented ?.
 (f) Describe site(s) of the injury without
using medical terminology.
3. LOG ALL INFORMATION
COLLECTED THROUGH-
 (a) Photographs – photograph the injury
before and after cleaning, with a scale and
an identification information chit included in
the photographs.
 Photographs should fix the site of injury
(ies) as well as nature of injuries (close up).
 If there is extraneous material (GSR etc.), it
should be recorded photographically.
 (b)X-Ray radiograph for locating projectiles
and their fragments.
 (c) Exhaustive description.
 (d)X-Ray of bone damage.
 4. Preserve relevant evidence-
 (a) The clothes and the evidence thereon.
(b)The projectiles.
 (c) The wads (if any).
 (d)The extraneous deposit.
 (e) In case of burning the charred skin piece
may also be preserved.
 (f) GSR found on hands must also be
collected and preserved.