BALLISTICS

By,Tate Reed and Matt Lanford

What is “ballistics?” Ballistics is the study of projectile weapons and their ammunition This area covers bullets and guns especially It is the science used to determine things like trajectory, path, speed, “origin,” etc., in our case, of a bullet in a crime scene

Ballistics Categories Internal – how bullet leaves the gun and begins its projectile path towards its “victim” Transition – how the bullet is moving and how fast it is moving from initial releaseTerminal – how the bullet impacts the targetDetermines where it was shot fromThe angle of the bullet in the woundWhere the bullet strikes

External – how the bullet flies through the air wind speedHow external factors affect the flight, etc.

BULLET PATH: ENTRY & EXIT

Methods of InvestigationBlood residue on gunIf there is a blood splatter on the gun but not the

hand, that rules out suicideSpecific patterns of blood splatter from the bullet

can show what angle and how close the shooter was to the victim

A closer look at the bullet experts look at the marks the bullet made on the

gun barrelThe force and trajectory it had leaving the barrel this is all to tell them what kind of gun was used

to narrow down suspects

More Methods: Ballistic Gel Ballistic gel is used to represent the human tissue This can tell the investigators a number of things: flight of bullet through bodyDistance and angle from the victim How certain bullets and guns travel through

humansSpeed of bullet upon impact Can be molded into a human-like figure to

recreate the murder victim, and his or her shooting

Interview: Max J. Scott What methods of investigation do you use?I graph the bullet nd shooting three demensionally

with an X, Y, and Z axis reverse the path of the bullet hole into the barrel,

and determine trajectory What do you do? measure the trajectory of the bulletExamine bullets used in shootings to find type of

bullet, gun, and how the bullet flew