ABSTRACT
Documenting and reconstructing scenes where a firearm has been discharged is a challenging and sometimes daunting task. Part of this complexity comes from the fact that there are hundreds of different calibers of ammunition used in thousands of different designs of firearms. The scene can be as simple as a single, nonexiting gunshot defect or as complicated as hundreds of gunshot defects involving handguns, rifles, and shotguns. Regardless of the situation, documentation, processing, and reconstruction of shooting scenes are accomplished by understanding the fundamentals of firearm evidence and taking a measured and consistent approach to the scene. The importance of shooting scene evidence in a crime scene reconstruction cannot be overemphasized. By evaluating shooting scene evidence (bullets, cartridge cases, cartridges, bullet defects, and weapons), the analyst can often limit the possible positions of a shooter or the victim and in some instances functionally place them in relatively discrete positions in the scene at the time of the gunshot.
