Wound Ballistic and Distance Determination

This comprehensive five-day course will discuss theoretical and practical aspects of Wound Ballistics and Distance Determination. The course is designed to give an essential understanding of these subjects mainly to the following professions: Forensic Pathologists, Firearms Experts, Scene of Crime Managers, Lawyers, Medical Examiners, Military and Police Officers and other law enforcement personnel who are responsible for investigating or overseeing the investigation of shooting incidents. The course has live demonstration of a variety of projectiles fired into tissue simulants, for delegates to see how evidence at shooting incident are generated. Delegates will also examine the firearm discharge residue for estimated distance determination from the position of the shooter to the victim and/or final target. Mock scenes are designed for the course to assist the delegates by providing hands-on experience with the concepts learned throughout the lectures and discussions.

COURSE OUTLINE

• Firearms and ammunition design and function 
• A review of fundamental exterior and terminal ballistic properties of projectiles
• Instruction in shooting incident investigation and reconstruction procedures, as well as basic crime scene procedures
• Properties of specific wound ballistic events (direction of fire and wound track, relative position of weapon/victim and angle of fire) 
• Behaviour of projectiles on varying target surfaces (recording/documentation of bullet mark)
• Types of entry wounds (contact, hard contact, loose contact, intermediate range, etc.) 
• Close range effects (tattooing and pseudo tattooing)
• Types of exit wounds
• Various bullets effects of tissues (temporary cavity, permanent cavity, etc.)
• Simulating bullet effects on tissues
• Laboratory examination aspects of recovered bullets from a reconstructive standpoint
• Shotgun ballistics and pellet pattern analysis
• Chemical examination of firearm discharge residue to estimate distance from the muzzle to the final target