ISSN: 0022-1198
Page Count: 6

Bullet Ricochet from Gypsum Wallboard
Bratton, DD
Graduate student, graduate student, and associate professor, The George Washington University, DC

Jordan, GE
Graduate student, graduate student, and associate professor, The George Washington University, DC

Donahue, HCH
Consultant and firearms examiner, MD

Rowe, WF
Graduate student, graduate student, and associate professor, The George Washington University, DC

(Received 24 October 1987; accepted 11 February 1988)

Abstract

In a criminal case, police alleged that a gouge in a plaster wall was the result of a bullet ricochet. Experimental studies showed that it is possible to obtain bullet ricochets from gypsum wallboard if the bullets are fired at a very low angle of incidence into the wallboard. The resulting ricochet marks, however, did not resemble the gouge alleged to have been caused by a bullet ricochet. When the angle of ricochet was determined, it was in all cases greater than the angle of incidence. While these results differ from those obtained in studies of ricochets from concrete and metal plates, they are similar to the results obtained in studies of bullet ricochet from soil and water.

Keywords:
criminalistics, ballistics, bullet ricochets, plaster

Paper ID: JFS12593J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS12593J
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