Atypical wound trajectory after a tangential pistol shot

Three intermediate-range shots from a Browning, model 1955, 7.65 mm caliber, pistol were fired from the driver's seat of a car at a woman in the passenger seat. She sustained three wounds: An, ultimately fatal, penetrating head wound, a graze wound across her forehead, and a tangential, perforating, wound, with bullet entry over the medial sternum and exit through the right flank. Neither postmortem CT nor forensic autopsy discovered bony thoracic injuries or perforations of the thoracoabdominal cavities. There was pulmonary contusion in the medial lobe of the right lung and hemorrhage in the adipose tissue around the right kidney. The tangential bullet had left an almost 40-cm-long wound channel through a pronounced layer of subcutaneous fat. Based on 3D reconstructed CT-data determinations, a straight bullet trajectory between entry and exit wounds would have traversed the abdominothoracic cavities, right lung, and liver. The actual trajectory, however, described a prominent curve, without signs of deflection by bone. Postulated explanations for this unusual bullet track are that the woman was twisting her body in a dynamic scene when the bullet struck; further, due to its shallow angle of incidence on the skin, the bullet was deflected to an intracutaneous path. Additionally, soft tissue resistance may have caused the bullet to yaw. Caution should, thus, be exercised when reconstructing bullet trajectories solely from entry and exist wounds, also for bullet wounds through basically homogenous soft tissues.

Automated summary

This is a report on the autopsy analysis of a woman who was shot. She sustained three wounds, including a lethal penetrating head wound, a graze wound across the forehead, and a tangential penetrating wound in the thoracoabdominal region. Based on 3D reconstructed CT data, the bullet trajectory would have passed through the abdominothoracic cavities, right lung, and liver. However, the actual trajectory showed a prominent curve without deflection by bone. Possible explanations for this unusual bullet track include the woman's body movement at the time of the bullet impact and the shallow angle of incidence that caused the bullet to deflect intracutaneously. Additionally, the resistance of the soft tissue may have caused the bullet to yaw.