ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Researchers at the State University at Albany report developing a fast, accurate method for crime scene investigators to detect and recover gunshot residue from a crime scene or suspect.
According to the university, researchers Igor Lednev and Justin Bueno have developed an approach that combines tape lifting and infrared spectroscopic imaging.
When a gun is fired, particles from the bullet are discharged onto the shooter's hands and clothes, nearby furniture, and other surfaces.
That residue can show where a gun was fired and who was nearby.
The chemists' method creates a molecular so-called "fingerprint'' identifying a wider range of residue material than typically used.
Their findings appear this month in the American Chemical Society journal Analytical Chemistry.
