GUNSHOT WOUNDS

JAIME RODRIGO L LEAL, M.D.

Penetrating GSW: Occur when a bullet enters an object and does not exit.
Perforating GSW: The bullet passes completely through the object.
Categories:
1. Contact GSW
- The muzzle of the weapon is held against the surface of the body at the time of discharge.
- May be hard, loose, angled or incomplete.
a. Hard-contact GSW
- The muzzle of the weapon is jammed "hard" against the skin, indenting it, so that the skin envelops
the muzzle.
- The immediate edges of the entrance are seared by the hot gases of combustion and blackened by
the soot, which is embedded in the seared skin and cannot be completely removed either by
washing or vigorous scrubbing of the wound.
b. Loose-contact GSW
- The muzzle is held lightly against the skin.
- Soot is deposited in a zone around the entrance. This soot can be easily wiped away.
c. Angled-contact GSW
- The barrel is held at an acute angle to the skin so that the complete circumference of the muzzle is
not in contact with it.
- Gas and soot escaping from the gap, where contact is not complete, radiate outward from the
muzzle, producing an eccentrically arranged pattern of soot.
d. Incomplete contact GSW
- Variation of angle-contact wounds.
- Muzzle in contact with contoured skin surface (the body surface is not completely flat) resulting in
muzzle-skin gap.
- Variably located seared blackened zone adjacent to the wound.
2. Near contact
- Muzzle a very short distance from skin (gray zone between contact and intermediate-range wounds).
- Wide blackened zone of soot baked into seared skin around wound (may not be distinguishable from loose
contact).
- In near contact angled wounds, the blackened seared zone on same side as muzzle, i.e., pointing toward the
weapon. That is the opposite of what is found in angled contact wounds.
3. Intermediate
- Muzzle to target distance within about arms length, i.e., 2 - 3 feet.
- Sine qua non is individual, red-brown to orange-red propellant grain or powder tattooing.
- May be blocked by hair or clothing.
- Powder tattooing is an antemortem phenomenon and indicates that the individual was alive at the time
when shot.
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- Postmortem tattooing have a moist gray or yellow appearance rather than the reddish-brown to orange-red
coloration of an antemortem wound.
- Cannot be wiped away.
4. Distant
- Muzzle to target distance greater than about 3 feet.

Entrance versus Exit Wounds:

Entrance Wounds:
- Smaller than exit wounds
- Presence of an abrasion ring or contusion collar - which occurs when the bullet abrades the edges of the
hole as it indents and pierces the skin; not due to the bullet's rotational movement as it goes through the
skin; also not due to the bullet burning the skin; entrance wounds of the palms and the soles as well as
reentry wounds of the axilla usually do not have abrasion rings
- Oval to circular in appearance; well-defined shape
Exit wounds:
- Larger than entrance wounds
- Absence of contusion collar
- Irregular, not well-defined; can be stellate, slit-like, crescent, circular or completely irregular
- Shored exit wounds - exit wounds with abraded margins
Miscellaneous Entrance Wounds
1. Grazed GSW - shallow; no actual perforation or tearing of the skin
2. Tangential GSW - extends down through the SQ tissue; skin is lacerated or torn by the bullet
3. Superficial perforating GSW - shallow through and through wounds in which the entrance and exit are close
4. Re-entry wounds - bullet has passed one part of the body and then reentered another part
5. Shoring of an entrance wounds
Stippling: Powder tattooing versus Pseudo-powder tattooing
1. Stippling
2. Powder tattooing - differentiate from postmortem insect bites
3. Pseudo-powder tattooing
Ricochet bullets
Bullet wounds of the skull
1. Bevelling
2. Gutter wounds - tangential wounds of the skull
3. Keyhole wound of the bone - bullet strikes the skull at a shallow angle
Caliber determination from entrance wounds - The caliber of the bullet that caused an entrance wound in the
skin cannot be determined by the diameter of the entrance

Bullet wipe - Gray coloration to the abrasion ring due to soot

Backspatter - ejection of blood and tissue from a GSW of entrance
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