Cartridge Characteristics
The mechanism in a firearm that pulls a spent cartridge case out of the chamber.
What is an extractor?
combination of elements is most characteristic of traditional primer gunshot residue
Lead, antimony, barium
This Texas politician was riding in the same motorcade as JFK and was also shot but survived.
John Connally
This 2013 attack involved pressure-cooker bombs detonated near the finish line of a major U.S. marathon.
Boston Marathon bombing
Investigators look for this type of pattern on walls, floors, or ceilings that often points toward where a fire started.
What is a V-shaped burn pattern?
The mechanism that expels the cartridge case from the firearm after it has been extracted.
What is an ejector?
The most common method for collecting GSR from a suspect’s hands.
Adhesive carbon stubs
Lee Harvey Oswald fired shots from this six-story building in Dallas.
Texas School Book Depository
This 1996 bombing at a Georgia Olympic venue killed 2 and injured 111, raising concerns about domestic terrorism at global events.
Centennial Olympic Park bombing
This type of evidence shows how long or hot a fire burned in an area and is measured by examining the blackened, burned material on wood or other surfaces.
What is char depth?
An indentation left on the primer of a cartridge case (centerfire) or the rim (rimfire) when struck
What is a firing pin impression?
It identifies both particle shape and elemental composition.
SEM-EDS test
In ballistics, this term describes a bullet that rotates or flips end over end while traveling, affecting its trajectory and damage.
yawing bullet
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over this Scottish town in 1988, killing 270 people, many of them Americans.
Lockerbie
Burned wood sometimes forms cracks that resemble reptile skin; larger cracks indicate higher heat while smaller cracks suggest lower heat.
What is alligatoring?
Caliber, Number of lands and grooves, Direction of rifling twist, Headstamp, General firing pin shape?
What are class characteristics?
Lead is detected from the _________ test.
Griess Test
The famous motion picture footage of the assassination, often analyzed frame by frame by forensic experts, is known as this.
Zaprudder film
In 2004, coordinated bombings on commuter trains in this European capital killed 191 people and injured over 2,000.
Madrid
When a flammable liquid is \used before ignition, it can leave behind these irregular burn marks or puddle-like shapes on the floor.
What is a pour pattern?
Striations (microscopic scratch patterns), Firing pin impression detail, Breech face marks, Extractor and ejector marks
What are individual characteristics?
The sodium rhodizonate test is primarily used to detect
Nitrites
Forensic pathologists debated the trajectory of JFK’s fatal head wound, which contributed to the controversial theory known as this.
single-bullet theory
In 2020, this U.S. city experienced a Christmas Day bombing that damaged buildings but caused only minor injuries.
Nashville, Tennessee
Investigators use chemical analysis to detect this in a fire scene, which can suggest that a fire was intentionally set.
What is an accelerant?