The secondary transfer of gunshot residue: an experimental investigation carried out with SEM‐EDX analysis

Ruth M. Morgan

65 citations0/0 files storedX-Ray Spectrometry

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Forensic Fingerprint Detection Methods Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques Gun Ownership and Violence Research

Abstract

Gunshot residue (GSR) is produced when a firearm is discharged and is routinely used in the forensic reconstruction of incidents involving firearms. SEM‐EDX with automated detection and analysis software was used to investigate the extent of GSR secondary transfer following the discharge of a firearm. A series of experiments, which mimicked real‐world scenarios, was set up to explore these under‐researched mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that relatively large amounts of GSR can be transferred to an individual immediately after the discharge of the firearm, through contact with the hands of the shooter or handling of the gun. While varying between runs, over 100 particles were transferred via a handshake in one instance, and it was found that even very large particles (60–100+ µm) were transferred from the shooter to the second individual via a handshake. The findings have implications for forensic investigations, including highlighting the need to sample from individuals who might have been involved in transfers and underscoring the importance of achieving accurate particle counts using the SEM‐EDX method. Most importantly, the findings suggest that the presence of GSR (especially in small quantities) may not always indicate that a person discharged a firearm and that the possibility for misidentification of the shooter exists, as does the potential to distinguish shooters from those who have acquired GSR through secondary transfer. Further experiments employing automated SEM‐EDX are suggested, which will add to our understanding of GSR transfer evidence and continue to improve the accuracy of interpretations which are presented in court. © 2013 The Authors. X‐Ray Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 65 citations exist upstream.

References

2010Analysis of Gunshot Residue and Associated Materials—A Review 2001Identification of gunshot residue: a critical review 2008Chemical Analysis of Firearms, Ammunition, and Gunshot Residue 2008Handbook of Firearms and Ballistics 1997Handbook of Firearms and Ballistics: Examining and Interpreting Forensic Evidence 1977Detection of Gunshot Residues on Hands by Scanning Electron Microscopy 2001Evaluation of the possibility of differentiation between various types of ammunition by means of GSR examination with SEM–EDX method 1999The persistence of gunshot residue on shooters’ hands

Cited by

2014On the prevalence of gunshot residue in selected populations – An empirical study performed with SEM-EDX analysis 2021Gunshot residue detection technologies—a review 2022The relevance of gunshot residues in forensic science 2016Gunshot residue contamination of the hands of police officers following start-of-shift handling of their firearm 2019Gunshot residue background on police officers: Considerations for secondary transfer in GSR evidence evaluation

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.