Practical Summary #5 Jessie Mobley
When you have a crime scene involving a shooting, it is important to determine the bullets trajectory to help show the facts and events surrounding the scene. The analysis of ballistic trajectory was the focus of the in class practical on Tuesday, October 2, 2012.
Trajectory tells the crime scene investigators the path the bullet takes from the moment it leaves the firearm until it comes to a stop. (Young, 2011)
For the practical exercise we were required to take the measurements from mock bullet holes placed on the wall or in training blocks. Both the wall set ups and the PCSO training blocks included trajectory rods to assist in our measurements. Also before the measurements began we took overall, medium and close range photographs. The close range pictures were taken with and without scales. (Young, 2011) For each hole we processed we took three measurements. The first measurement we took was from the floor of the location to the middle of the bullet hole (we recorded the height in out notes in inches). Next we took the vertical angle using the trajectory rod and an angle finder. We place the angle finder flat against the bottom of the rod and determined the angle that the bullet made entry into the service. This angle was recorded in degrees and stated whether it was at an upward or downward angle in our notes. The final measurement for each hole was to determine the azimuth angle (side-toside angle). (Young, 2011) This step was accomplished using a special crime scene protractor with ninety degrees in the center. We placed the protractor flat on the wall beneath the hole and recorded the angle (in degrees) that the middle of the trajectory rod was on top of. From this information we collected, trajectory analysis can tell the investigators many things such as,

location of the shooter, the order the shots were fired in, and the path of the projectile. (Young,
2011)
Sources:
Young, T., & Ortmeier, P. J. (2011). Crime scene investigation: The forensic technician's feild
manual. Upper Saddle River, New Jersy: Pearson.