One might think that a bullet hole is merely the endpoint of a bullet's journey, but for the forensic scientists at Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, it is the starting point of a detailed investigation. As shared in a social media post, these experts have recently undergone training that enriches their capability to dissect the trail of a bullet through various materials such as car doors and drywall.
“Recently, some of our forensic scientists participated in a multi-jurisdictional training on trajectory analysis at our firearms range,” the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office stated. They observed how bullets behave when striking different surfaces and learned to calculate trajectories to determine a shooter’s position. When the full trajectory is known, they use rods or lasers to hypothesize positions and locate additional evidence, such as shell casings, even in challenging environments like dense fields.
The technique was recently used in an active case to help investigators find key evidence, the Sheriff’s Office said. The department also uses a FARO 3D scanner to create virtual crime scenes, allowing detectives and juries to view bullet trajectories and examine the scene in detail.
“The trajectory data can be combined with our FARO 3D scanner to create a virtual crime scene that detectives and juries can walk through,” the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said. The technology helps verify eyewitness accounts and reconstruct events.
The agency added that its forensic scientists also train to analyze unusual weapons, including harpoons, according to Inside the Star.
