After attending this course, attendees will learn some of the phenomena that must be taken into consideration when assessing a shooting scene. Several different types of ammunition will be discussed, along with their interactions with several different substrates commonly encountered. Attendees will also become familiar with evidence recognition, documentation, and recovery for laboratory analysis. The complex nature of a shooting incident may generate a variety of firearm-related evidence, such as the firearm itself, cycled or discharged ammunition components, gunshot residue, trace evidence on a bullet, or impact sites with traces of the bullet’s prior presence.

This course will consider the transfer of material from the substrate to the bullet, per the Locard Exchange Principle, the overall change to both the bullet and substrate from the energy exchange, the potential path the bullet followed, and the possibility of ricochet. This information provides law enforcement with fundamental data required for the scientific reconstruction and assessment of a shooting scene.

Depending upon the substrate, the bullet’s design, velocity, construction, and its angle of impact, a bullet may fail to ricochet upon impact, or the bullet will successfully ricochet. Knowledge of bullet behavior with common substrates provides valuable information for scientific investigation of shooting scenes where bullets have impacted intermediate surfaces. This course will explore the importance of trace evidence.

Date:  July 24, 2023

Time:  8:30am – 4:00pm

Instructors:          

• Peter J. Diaczuk, Ph.D., John Jay College, Department of Forensic Science
• Sgt. Andrew J. Winter, Ed.S., Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

Location:  Middlesex County Police Training Center

Cost: FREE

Please register at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/evidbullet2023