An investigation of shored gunshot exit wound morphologies using a range of forensically relevant surfaces

Abstract

Shored exit wounds are produced when the skin at the point of the bullet exit is supported or buttressed by some object or surface, causing an abraded ring around the shored exit wound. This work looks to add critical understanding of shored wound processes on a range of surface types, expanding on the currently limited literature that focuses only on soft shoring materials. This large empirical study was conducted to develop a deeper understanding of shored exit wounds for a range of common surface types available in contemporary urban environments. To facilitate this, two ammunition types (5.56 mm and 7.62 mm) were fired into a porcine model designed to simulate the downward force of a human body pressing into various modern building materials. The exit wounds produced by shoring the porcine model on wall tiles, concrete, and two engineered wood types (MDF and Melamine) significantly contrast with the existing, more generalised explanation of shored exit wounds. This highlights the necessity for a more valid, target-type-specific approach to interpreting shored exit wound characteristics. The study highlights that hard-shoring surfaces produce comparatively larger exit wounds, while irregular surfaces give rise to increased shoring and soft surfaces under pressure, produce less shoring. It also reports novel shored exit wound features and wounding mechanisms not documented previously that have potential forensic investigative value in helping determine if a gunshot wound has resulted from a shored scenario or not. While significantly adding to the understanding of shored exit wounds for forensic pathology practice, the study's findings suggest that the shored exit wound characteristics can be interpreted according to different target types, such as yielding and non-yielding surfaces.