The "inner gunshot residue"--a gunshot entry marker in gunshot of ridged skin]

Gunshot residue below the surface of the skin is typical of a contact gunshot wound. However, in a case of our own, when a taxi-robber was shot by the cab driver through his right hand at a distance of several yards, this finding provoked quite a confusion. Only when experimental shots at thick glabrous skin were performed, it could be established that long range shots led to intraepidermal gunshot deposit too. The explanation of this phenomenon lies in the tenacity of thick skin. Unlike the thin hairy skin, which is punched out by the penetrating projectile, the thicker and more tenacious plantar/palmar epidermis gets displaced radially, the stratum germinativum tears and the projectile casts its gunshot residue in the pouch formed in such a manner. Therefore, intraepidermal gunshot residue is proof of an entrance gunshot wound but not always a sign of contact shot if the wound is located in the palmar or plantar region. It is typically produced by shots at thick skin.