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Trends in analysis of gunshot residue for forensic purposes

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Abstract

Detection and identification of organic and inorganic components of gunshot residue are well established within forensic chemistry because of highly characteristic and uncommon features of the products of ammunition discharge at the time and place of a shooting incident in comparison to other materials present in daily life of people. Both types of residue play an important role in establishing various circumstances of a shooting crime, though the most vital one concerns the possibility of relating a suspect with the activity of shooting. In this aspect, solid, inorganic particles, nowadays called characteristic, have been utilized. Their specific features result from the primer mixture composition, including compounds of heavy metals, lead, antimony, and barium, and from the extraordinarily dynamic conditions of their formation, taking place at the moment of the primer detonation. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis techniques proved to be necessary and sufficient to reveal the content and the spherical morphology of the particles for this purpose. Recently, the recommendation that the potential for lead exposure be minimized was followed in the production of ammunition cal. 9 mm Luger, 0.40 S&W, 0.380 Auto, and 0.38 Special. These modern types of ammunition expel less characteristic particles, the identification of which can be a challenge for the examiners. At least two solutions to strengthen the residue identity are taken into account: additional insights into the internal structure of inorganic particles, e.g., by means of electron backscattered diffraction and focused ion beam, as well as complementary examinations of organic residues with sensitive mass spectrometric techniques.

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Dr. Rüdiger Schumacher, Bundeskriminalamt (BKA - Federal Criminal Police Office), Wiesbaden, Germany, the leader of the project no. HOME/2011/ISEC/AG/4000002504 financially supported by the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme European Commission – Directorate-General Home Affairs for his invitation to participate in the project that provided unique premises for exchange of experiences and better understanding of various aspects of gunshot residue analysis for forensic purposes.

The author is grateful to Dr. Robert A. Jackson, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK for his proofreading and valuable remarks.

The views presented here were partially gained within the project number VIII/K, 2013–2016 financially supported by the Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow.

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  1. Department of Criminalistics, Institute of Forensic Research, Westerplatte St. 9, 31-033, Krakow, Poland

    Zuzanna Brożek-Mucha

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Correspondence to Zuzanna Brożek-Mucha.

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Brożek-Mucha, Z. Trends in analysis of gunshot residue for forensic purposes. Anal Bioanal Chem 409, 5803–5811 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0460-1

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