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Monday, November 17, 2014

Shooting Incident Reconstruction

Over the weekend, I was honored to be invited to attend a Shooting Incident Reconstruction seminar taught by local firearms expert, Dr. Bruce Krell, PhD. I wasn't sure if I could spare the time to make it to the class, but the course announcement really got me interested. Here's a snippet:

During the morning, we will be in an air conditioned classroom.
During the afternoon, we will be out on a private shooting range.

NOTE: We don’t take a lunch break. The range does not have food facilities.
Bring your own lunch and plan to eat during the last half hour of the lecture.

The afternoon session may be hot and may also be windy.
My guess right now is that shorts and t-shirt might be appropriate.
But, bring a sweater in case you are too cold in the classroom.

Wear tennis shoes or hiking boots.

Please bring sun block and a baseball cap or a hat.

Bottled water would also be a good idea.

If you have shooting ear muffs, please bring them.
If not, don’t worry. We will have plenty of the soft ear plugs.

Some of you will be participating in some of the measurement tasks.
Some of you will be participating as actors in some of the reconstructions.
Some of the reconstructions may involve being on the ground, so if
you might be willing to volunteer, dress so that you don’t’ mind getting dirty.

We will be discussing some of the strategies for photo perspectives.
So, I will be taking photos of some sections of the reconstructions.


The first half of the course featured a ton of slides on the math and stats of trajectories, ejector patterns, ricochets, and so forth. He walked the class through several old cases, demonstrating how reconstructions are performed using all of the available reports and on-scene work. Then the class moved up to the range for some practical exercises.

In all, it was an enjoyable class.

If you're in the Los Angeles area and can make it to one of Dr. Krell's classes, you'll get a ton of useful information. Plus, you'll never look at a shooting incident in the same way again.

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