FIREARM INJURIES

By Dr. Naveen
shotgun
rifle
 These are injuries caused by high velocity projectiles,
called bullets or pellets.They produce punctured wounds.
Types of firearm weapons (guns)
1) Rifled guns - The term “rifle” comes from the riflings
or groovings made on the inner surface of the barrel.
On the inner surface of the barrels of these guns,
parallel grooves (usually 4-7 in number) are made
which run spirally, all along the bore.
Rifled guns are comparatively more powerful guns.
Rifled gun cartridge contains one bullet as the
projectile.
2) Smooth bored guns or shotguns : In these guns the
inner surface of the barrel is uniformly smooth.
Injuries in case of rifled
weapon (bullet injury)
There is a single punctured wound of
entrance. It travels deep inside the body,
injuring organs in its track and sometimes
makes an exit wound.
1. The wound of entrance
1) shape and diameter
The wound of entrance is circular when the
bullet strikes the body surface perpendicularly.
It is oval, when the bullet strikes the body at
an angle.
This wound (wound of entrance) is smaller
when the firing is from a close range (except
contact wound).
It is slightly larger when the firing is from a
long distance.
2) abraded or contused collar
While the bullet enters the body
through the hole made by the nose of
the bullet, the surface of bullet faces a
friction with the skin surrounding the
hole (wound of entrance), causing
abrasion or contusion of the frictioned
area, around the wound of entrance,
termed abraded or contused collar.
 3) dirt or grease collar

Around the abraded or contused collar,

there is a dirt or grease collar, made by the
metallic dust and grease on the surface of
the bullet, which the bullet inherits when it
passes through the length of the bore of
the barrel (grease is used in the inner
surface of the barrel to prevent rusting, and
metallic dust is produced due to the friction
between the bullet and inner surface of the
barrel when the bullet travels inside the
barrel).
 3) The wound of entrance is inverted
and there is no protrusion out of fat
through this wound.
The abraded or contused collar
and the grease collar tell about the
direction of firing .
2. The depth and track of the wound
After entering the body the bullet may run a
straight course or it may get deflected and take
a different course due to obstruction by the
tissue, mostly a bone.
If the affected part of the body is covered
with clothes then, the depth of the wound near
the wound of entrance will show presence of
fabrics torn out from the clothes and pushed
inside the wound by the bullet. In bullet injury,
usually there is less haemorrhage near the
wound of entrance.
3. The wound of exit
1) The wound through which the bullet
comes out of the body is usually slightly larger
than the wound of entrance, when the gun is
fired from a short distance. The wound of
entrance is smaller when the bullet is fired from
a short distance, because in that case the bullet
possesses high velocity.
But when fired from a long distance, the exit
wound is slightly smaller than the wound of
entrance . The wound of entrance is larger
when the bullet is fired from a great distance
as, then the bullet possesses a low velocity.
 2) The wound of exit is everted, with protrusion
of fatty tissue through the wound.
3) The margin is irregular.

Contact wound in case of rifled weapon

In case of contact wound, there will be
muzzle impression around the main wound, in
the form of abrasion or depression. The effect
of fire, hot gas, smoke and unburnt and
semiburnt gunpowder will be present in the
depth of the wound near the wound of
entrance, instead of their effects being present
around the wound.
 Due to expansion of the gas coming
out of the muzzle end and entering
inside the depth of the body tissue,
there will be greater destruction of the
tissue with a large wound.
If the contact wound is on the head,
then bursting of the cranial cavity may
occur with exposure and expulsion of
the brain matter.
Examination of gunshot injury cases
A. In case of living
In pellets (shotgun ) injury, the problem is
occasionally more than bullet injury. This is
because of dispersion of the pellets in the body.
The pellets may be distributed in widespread
area. But fortunately, often the depth of the
wounds are less with less involvement of the
internal vital organs due to less penetrating
capacity of the pellets.
The part of the body apparently injured with
possible extent of the pellets to deeper tissue,
should be subjected to X`ray examination.
X`ray examination will help exact location of the
pellets, which is necessary for both legal and
medical purposes.
Examination of the injured
1. General condition of the injured.
2. The part involved, extent and severity of the
injury.
For these, radiological examination may be
necessary. X`ray examination is also necessary
for therapeutic purposes. A gunshot injury
case is better examined on the operation table.
 In case of shot gun injury, many a
times the superficially lodged pellets are
left as such without disturbing,
particularly when many of them are
lodged sporadically at distant places. If
such pellets are compatible with
continuance of life and normal
functioning, then their removal by
surgery may be considered as
unnecessary step, just to cause further
trauma.
3. Examination of the clothing
It is important to examine the
clothing to the presence of recent tear
or bullet hole and blood and other
stains.
4. Examination the place of occurrence
of the bullet injury may at times be
necessary, which may be helpful to
know the direction of firing etc.
B. Postmortem examination of a case of death
due to firearm injury
The size and shape of the entrance and exit
wounds should be noted. Mark of contact with
the muzzle is also an important finding. Once
the bullet or a pellet is traced (which becomes
very easy if the body is X`rayed prior to the
starting of the postmortem examination ), it has
to be removed from the body cautiously. It is
recommended that bullets or pellets should be
removed with the help of rubber-tipped forceps
and not with the bare metallic tips of the
forceps.
 The bullet or the pellets so recovered, need
not be washed and should instead be
preserved along with the blood stain over them,
being wrapped with cotton, in a clean glass jar.
The jar should be properly labeled and sealed
and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory. If
fragments of a bullet have been recovered,
then all the available fragments of the bullet
should be preserved.
The number of bullets, fragments or pellets
recovered and preserved should be
mentioned on the label of the glass
container. In case of contact wound by
shotgun, along with pellets, the wad and
the discs should be searched out from the
track of the wound and preserved.
 Materials to be preserved during postmortem
examination in cases of death due to firearm injuries
1. Bullet, fragment of bullet or pellets.
2. Skin from around the wound, for chemical
identification of the unburnt gunpowder and the type of
grease (available from the grease or dirt collar), which
help to identify the firearm weapon used. If the unburnt
gunpowder detected from the skin around the wound
tallies with that present in the inner surface of the
barrel of a gun which is suspected to have been used
to injure the victim, then that becomes a strong
corroborative finding.
3. Clothing
 Differences between wound of entrance and exit
( page 192)
Points of difference Wound of Entrance Wound of Exit
1.Size Smaller when near, larger when distant
Larger when near, smaller when distant
2. Margin Inverted Everted
3.Singeing, blackening, burning, tattooing Present Absent
4. Abraded or contused and grease collars Present Absent
5. Foreign fabrics of cloth etc Enters in the wound Nothing such
6. Protrusion of fat Absent Present
7. Bright redness due to formation of COHb Present Absent
8. Impression of muzzle Present in contact shot Absent
9. Bursting effect In contact shot may be present Absent
 Medicolegal informations available from a
firearm injury
1. Nature of death due to firearm injury – Death due to
firearm injury may be suicidal, homicidal or accidental.
Suicidal: 1) elective sites (palate, right temple in
case of a rt. handed person), 2) usual
weapon(short,hand-rest weapons), 3) Often the
entrance wounds are contact wounds with presence of
the impression of the muzzle around the wound of
entrance. 4) The gun may be held in the tight grip, in
a state of cadaveric spasm of the hand used. And
other suicidal support.
Homicidal , accidental ( no specificity)
2. The direction of the firing
It is better to try to assess the direction of
the firing from the dispersion of the pellets in
cases of shotgun injuries and from abraded
/contused and grease collars, in case of bullet
injuries by rifled weapons.
3. Distance of firing
In case of bullet injury (rifled gun), the
distance of firing can be assessed from :
1) Effects of fire, smoke, burnt and unburnt
gunpowder, when firing is from a short or near
distance.
2) Beyond the distance covered by the influence
of these, it is very difficult to assess the precise
distance of the firing. Only a vague idea can be
formed from the diameters of the wound of
entrance and the wound of exit.
Usually, when the firing is not from a great
distance, the wound of entrance should be
smaller than the wound of exit. But if the firing
is from a long distance, the wound of entrance
may be equal or even larger than the wound of
exit.
3) As in case of shotgun injury, impression of
the muzzle will indicate contact firing.
4. Identification of the firearm weapon used.
1) The gunpowder used in the ammunition
(cartridge), can help identification of the
weapon used.
If by chemical examination, the nature of
the gunpowder present at the inner surface of
the barrel and those around the wound of
entrance or the corresponding part of the
clothing of the victim are found to be same,
then it is an indication that the suspected gun
might have been used in the particular
occasion.
2) As in case of gunpowder, if the grease
material from over the grease collar around the
wound of entrance or the corresponding part of
the clothing (in case of bullet wound), tallies
with the grease material, used to keep the inner
surface of the barrel of the suspect gun clean
then , this finding also serves as a linking line
between the use of that particular gun in
causing the particular wound.
3) Comparative study of the bullet recovered
from the dead body and the test bullet
fired from the suspect gun
Such a comparative study may be
confirmatory to conclude whether a
particular gun was actually used or not.
1) Primary markings – These are the marks
engraved on the surface of the bullet due to
lands and grooves present on the inner surface
of the barrel of a rifled gun, which are similar in
the barrels of all the guns of the same make.
Hence, these marks on the surface of the
bullet, which are parallel and spiral according to
the line of the grooves and lands on the inner
surface of the barrel, will be similar on all
bullets fired from any rifled gun of the same
make.
 2) Secondary markings – These marks on the
surface of the bullet are caused due to certain
individual features of the inner surface of the
barrel like, minor projections or elevations or
depression are specific of a particular gun and
not common to all guns even of the same
make.
If these marks on the body of the test bullet
and those on the body of the recovered
bullet tally in their dimensions and
curvature, then it can be more or less
conclusively opined that, the bullet
causing the death of the victim was fired
from the gun examined.
5. Identification of the assailant
Dermal nitrate or paraffin test is
recommended for the identification of
the assailant. Paraffin impression from
the medial surface and the base of the
thumb and lateral surface and the base
of the index finger of the right hand of a
right handed accused is taken and is
subjected to the test for the presence of
nitrite, performed with the reagent
diphenylamine.
 In case of recent use of a gun, if the hand is
contaminated with nitrogenous compound of
the gunpowder or priming mixture, then bluish
discoloration of the relevant parts of the paraffin
cast will be there due to leakage of the gas
from the chamber through the defective breach
mechanism, during a fire.
The test may be negative even though one
round was fired by the accused, if there is
no chance of leakage of the gas through
the breach mechanism or if the assailant
has thoroughly washed his hand after
using the gun or used gloves while using
the gun.
 Conversely, the test may give a false
positive reaction even if a gun has not been
used by the accused person, if his hand gets
contaminated with his own body fluid like urine,
which contains nitrogenous compounds.
Now-a-days, for the fallacies of the nitrous
test, test for metal present in the priming
mixture which also contaminates the hand, is
recommended. Trace of the primer metals
may be detected by SPECTROPHOTOMETRY
or NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS.
EXPLOSIVE
 Terrorism and warfare lead to many
deaths from explosive devices. In military
bomb, shell and missile explosions , the
release of energy may be so high that
death and disruption from blast effects
may occur over a wide area, though the
energy falls off rapidly as the distance
from the epicentre increase.
 When an explosion occurs, the generation of
huge volumes of gas, expanded by chemical
interaction and great heat,causes a
compression wave to sweep outwards.At the
origin, this is many times the speed of sound,
but rapidly slows down.The pure blast effects
cause either physical fragmentation, disruption
and laceration of the victim, from high pressure
and hot gas striking the body. A minimum
pressure of about 700kilopascals is needed for
tissue damage in humans
 There may be pressure effects upon the
viscera, which are far more damaging eg.
lungs and alimentary canal .Ruptures and
haemorrhage of these zones is the
classical blast lesion.
 For more casualties, fatal and otherwise,
are caused by secondary effects of
explosive devices, especially in the lower-
powered terrorist bombs. These include:
 1 Burns, both from the near effects of the
explosion and secondary burns from
conflagrations started by the bomb.
 2 Missile injuries from parts of the bomb
casing and from adjacent objects and
fragments projected by the explosion.
 3Peppering by small fragments, debris
and dust propelled by the explosion.
These can cause multiple abrasions,
lacerations and bruises and discolour the
skin from impacted dirt.
 4 All types of injuries due to collapse of
buildings, roofs, ceilings, etc.due to
structural damage from the explosion.
 5 Injuries and death from vehicular
damage or destruction, such as
decompression, fire and ground impact of
bombed aircraft and crash damage to
cars, trucks, buses, etc.
 If a near or massive explosion disrupts
one or more bodies, then identification of
the fragments is essential, not least to
determine how many victims were killed –
a task which can be extremely difficult.
The task resembles that after a mass
disaster such as an air crash, where
many bodies may be both disrupted into
hundreds of fragments and burned as
well.
现场地面落叶
面目全非
炸断的足
面目全非
内
裤
上
的
破
口
家具下压着两具尸体
女尸
残存的女阴
躯干被破坏
衣服上的破口
男尸的损伤