Page 11 - The Smoking Gun Gunshot Residue

Gunshot Residue

Analysis

race evidence is physical evidence that it by investigators is who fired the gun. When properly
often difficult to detect by the naked eye, obtained and analyzed, gunshot residue can connect
Ttherefore some type of magnification or the criminal to the proverbial “smoking gun.”
sensitive analytical techniqueis often required to
detect or view it. Gunshot residue is one of the Following a crime, gunshot residue may be found
most widely utilized and widely examined forms of on the hands, face, or clothing of the suspected
trace evidence, and it has been utilized successfully shooter, as well as on any object or person in the
in courtrooms across the country for decades. vicinity of the fired weapon. From both hands,
samples should be taken from the front and back
In the United States alone, 1.3 million people of the index finger, thumb, and the web space in
are confronted each year by criminals carrying between. Residue can also be traced on the hands
handguns. Firearms have been used in 40% of using a ferrozine, a spray to detect iron.
robberies, 20% of aggravated assaults, and 68%
of all criminal homicides. Because of the number of The face of a suspected shooter can also be sampled.
crimes that involve a firearm, the ability to recognize This may prove especially useful when a rifle or
and properly analyze gun shot residue is an shotgun has been used in a shooting. Larger amounts
extremely important skill that has helped solve many of gunshot residue are deposited on the face, chest,
violent crimes. When a crime involves the discharge and hair when these specific types of weapons are
of a firearm, the first thing that must be determined used as they cause significant blowback.

THE MYSTERY OF LYLE AND LOUISE 11