Fast Screening of Firearm Discharge Residues by Laser-based Spectrochemical Methods, Electrochemical Sensors, and Chemometrics, West Virginia, 2019-2021 (ICPSR 38296)
Version Date: Apr 16, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Tatiana Trejos, West Virginia University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38296.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The detection of gunshot residue (GSR) provides valuable information in violent crimes, accidental shootings, and terrorism. Despite the scientific validity of this discipline, there are persistent challenges regarding the speed of analysis, preservation of the evidence, and interpretation of results. Consequently, there is a critical need to improve the discipline's turnaround times and reliability. This study's overall purpose was to develop a comprehensive approach to overcome these significant concerns and enhance the criminal justice system capabilities. This project developed and validated fast and reliable tests, using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and electrochemical (EC) sensors for GSR detection. Also, statistical models were applied for the quantitative interpretation of the evidence. The combination of LIBS and EC data permitted the accurate identification of organic and inorganic residues (OGSR and IGSR, accuracy ranging from 92-99% depending on the subpopulation and classification models). This research focused on developing SMARTER (Simpler, Modern, Affordable, Rapid, Transformative, Effective, and Reliable) solutions for GSR examinations.
The main objectives were:
- Application of universal and expanded collection methods
- Development of novel, ultrafast methods for dual detection of IGSR and OGSR
- Development of modern 3D chemical imaging for crime scene reconstruction
- Development of novel micro-particle GSR standards
- Creation of a large population study and probabilistic interpretation framework
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For this large population study to observe the trends in both the background population and known shooter, a total of 1,061 sets were collected. All participants were asked to volunteer for the study and were not required to participate. 455 of those sets were collected from the background population (350 low-risk and 105 high-risk) from individuals who had not fired a weapon with 24 hours of collection. The high-risk sets were collected from individuals who had hobbies and professions with a potential for more false positives (mechanics, agriculture workers, firearm researchers, and police officers and their administrators). A total of 606 known shooter sets were collected using different types of ammunition and originated from four main sub-populations: 200 leaded shooter sets, 86 activity sets, 100 lead-free sets, and 220 mixed leaded and lead-free sets.
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The data collected was from over 1,000 participants resulting in over 3,200 individual samples and generating over 100,000 data sets.
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Volunteers from the background population and known shooter samples.
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These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
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