Gunshot residues found at the exit wound: a case report

Abstract

Gunshot residues (GSRs) play an important role in forensic investigations of gun-related violence. The presence of GSRs has been described to help to identify the bullet entry area, as it was supposed not to be found at exit wounds. This report details the suicidal headshot of an 84-year-old male where unburned tube-like, cuboid and flake-formed powder particles have been found not only at the inside of the muzzle but also circular around the exit wound. With very short-barrelled weapons, it must be expected that part of the propellant charge leaves the barrel unburned behind the bullet. In contrast to that, the barrel length of the used weapon should lead to a complete burn-up of powder particles. The surprisingly large number of unburned powder particles present at the exit wound of the injury gave reason for further investigation to understand the underlying ballistic aspects and outlines the importance of having a close look at incidence scene photos during an investigation.

Keywords: Ballistics; Exit wound; Gunshot residues; Gunshot wound; Suicide.

Fig. 1

Weapon found at the location of incident

Fig. 2

Gunshot entrance wound showing a lacerated wound with black soot visible within the wound and on the wound margins

Fig. 3

GSRs found around the exit wound (yellow arrows)

Fig. 4

Impression of the exit wound during autopsy

Fig. 5

GSRs at the inside of the muzzle (yellow arrow)

Fig. 6

Some powder particles initially fly faster than the projectile before they are all finally overtaken by the projectile

Fig. 7

Entry of the bullet causing the formation of a temporary cavity located around the permanent wound channel (bullet illustrations were taken from [20, 21], modified and used for creation of this graph)