Citation

Jorgenson KM, Wiens AL, Pfeifer EA, Lanter J. J. Forensic Sci. 2017; 62(6): 1487-1495.

Affiliation

Eastern Division, Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 1115 W 17th Street, Tulsa, OK, 74107.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13499

PMID

28378323

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to collect data and disseminate trends in officer-involved firearm deaths in Oklahoma from 2000 to 2015. The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) database was searched for civilian decedents with gunshot wounds inflicted by law enforcement officers and officer decedents with gunshot wounds inflicted by civilians. Five decedents were law enforcement officers, while 274 decedents were civilians. The number of civilian decedents throughout the study followed a quadratic trend. Civilian decedents were most commonly males (95%) between the ages of 20 and 39 (64%), had one or two gunshot wounds (46%), and had an increasing number of gunshot wounds over time. Postmortem toxicology testing most commonly detected ethanol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and PCP. Efforts toward increased tracking by various agencies and more scientific studies like this are needed to facilitate future analysis of trends in officer-involved firearm deaths.

© 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

firearm; forensic pathology; forensic science; gunshot wounds; homicide; officer-involved shooting