NCJ Number
156344
Journal
Journal of Forensic Identification Volume: 45 Issue: 4 Dated: (July- August 1995) Pages: 427-433
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Experiments were conducted to explore the effects of vehicle speed, road surface, and case size, shape, and weight on the distance that cartridge cases travel after ejection from moving vehicles, which occurs during drive-by shootings.
Abstract
Drive-by shootings cause problems for both crime scene investigators and shooting reconstructionists, because the dead or alive victim, the spent cartridge cases in the street, and sometimes a witness are often the only elements of a scene that remain. The experiments aimed to find out if tests could provide the crime scene investigator with a reasonable estimate of where ejected cases should be found and then properly photographed and measured for a shooting reconstruction. Fired cartridge cases from several types of weapons were dropped at arm's length from the window of a moving vehicle. Tests were made on smooth pavement, gravel road, and slopes. Results revealed that weight and caliber had little effect on the results. In addition, rimmed cases tended to travel less far than rimless cases under similar circumstances. Moreover, while dirt or gravel roads increased the stopping difference of automobiles, these same surfaces have an enormously retardant effect on the travel of ejected cartridge cases. Finally, the dropping of cases from the left side of a vehicle is not the same as dropping them off the back of a motorcycle. Figures