I'm not sure if this is surprising...

[DT Guy]

But data from the 'hey, jackass' website, which tracks Chicago shootings on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and historical basis, shows some clear trends in terms of shot placement and lethality.
2020 Shot Placement
Placement Killed Wounded
head 206 132
chest 154 163
back 50 282
abdomen 39 214
neck 32 61
side 25 57
face 24 109
shoulder 6 151
unknown/other 216 1961
As of 12/10/20

It is interesting, though, to see some hard numbers on this. Some things that jumped out at me:
1. Getting shot in the back is more common (in Chicago) than getting shot in the head, chest, abdomen or neck. Situational awareness, as we all knew, is king.
2. Getting shot in the face is less likely to kill you than getting shot in the head-I'd have thought that would be reversed, to be honest.
3. Even with (apparently) some effort to tabulate via police reporting, the vast majority of shootings don't include shot placement information.
Source: https://heyjackass.com/

(Sorry, tried to format but got scrambled by the software when posting...)

Larry

 

[Phaedrus/69]

Your face is on your head. Makes me wonder how they were compiled. But assuming the stats are accurate (aside from that glaring issue) being shot in the front of your head allows you to attempt to avoid the shot, since the face is where your eyes are. The shot to the head on the opposite side or laterally is harder to dodge. The skull (aka 'brainpan') exists to protect the brain and does a pretty good job of it. The part most vulnerable to gunfire forms a T with your eyeline and nose.

 

[Hartkopf]

Probably numerous shots were to the side of the face, possibly doing terrible damage, but not fatal. Jaw and sinuses could be mostly destroyed and the person survive.

Back muscles and fat seem to do a really good job of protecting vitals.

 

[.38 Special]

I suspect that most people react to gunfire by running away, hence the prevalence of back shots. For whatever that is worth.

 

[DT Guy]

Your face is on your head. Makes me wonder how they were compiled. But assuming the stats are accurate (aside from that glaring issue) being shot in the front of your head allows you to attempt to avoid the shot, since the face is where your eyes are. The shot to the head on the opposite side or laterally is harder to dodge. The skull (aka 'brainpan') exists to protect the brain and does a pretty good job of it. The part most vulnerable to gunfire forms a T with your eyeline and nose.

Yeah, we were taught to make a triangle with the outer corners of the eyes and the bottom of the mouth, so similar. That's why I figured the facial shots would be more deadly than they're showing.

As far as the back shots, I think .38 special is likely right; I imagine a lot of these incidents are gang-related, with shooting into crowds and at buildings and all that comes with that.

I realize there are tons of ways these stats could be vague or flawed, but it's still interesting.

Larry

 

[jmorris]

1. Getting shot in the back is more common (in Chicago) than getting shot in the head, chest, abdomen or neck. Situational awareness, as we all knew, is king.

I would have surmised that running away doesn’t keep you from getting shot.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

Yeah, we were taught to make a triangle with the outer corners of the eyes and the bottom of the mouth, so similar. That's why I figured the facial shots would be more deadly than they're showing.

Larry

I thing it's called "the Fatal T" IIRC. It can be surprising what can kill and what can be survived. Last year over by Missoula a Montana Highway Patrol trooper was shot in the face at very close range by a nut with an AR; IIRC he took a couple rounds. He was in a coma for a while but he's back on the job and patrolling today! A heroic guy and a tough SOB!

 

[DT Guy]

I thing it's called "the Fatal T" IIRC. It can be surprising what can kill and what can be survived. Last year over by Missoula a Montana Highway Patrol trooper was shot in the face at very close range by a nut with an AR; IIRC he took a couple rounds. He was in a coma for a while but he's back on the job and patrolling today! A heroic guy and a tough SOB!

Yikes-glad the trooper is okay.

I know 'chining' can be a thing with head shots, which can allow for some amazing survival stories. My uncle had, as a youth, been shot just above the eye by a BB gun; he was ever-ready to let you feel the BB under the skin on the read of his head, where it had eventually stopped.

Larry

 

[JohnKSa]

Yeah, we were taught to make a triangle with the outer corners of the eyes and the bottom of the mouth, so similar. That's why I figured the facial shots would be more deadly than they're showing.

Works great if the person is facing you. The complication is that people are 3 dimensional and if they're not facing you, that triangle is now in a very different place. From the side, if you aim for the face, it's going to be a nasty wound but likely not even incapacitating. You now need to aim for the skull or perhaps the neck.

The value of the triangle, from the front, has nothing to do with the places on the face where it is drawn, but rather it is about what the bullet will hit after it penetrates through that triangle, and the face.

 

[DT Guy]

Works great if the person is facing you. The complication is that people are 3 dimensional and if they're not facing you, that triangle is now in a very different place. From the side, if you aim for the face, it's going to be a nasty wound but likely not even incapacitating. You now need to aim for the skull or perhaps the neck.

The value of the triangle, from the front, has nothing to do with the places on the face where it is drawn, but rather it is about what the bullet will hit after it penetrates through that triangle, and the face.

Yep. From the sides and back we were taught to draw a 2" band horizontally around the eyes (like a racing stripe) and use that. Not sure if the thinking/training on that has progressed.

Larry

 

[Jeff White]

I was taught the triangle from the front, to envision the subject was wearing headphones from the sides and the base of the skull from the rear.

 

[lemaymiami]

In the real world the actual results of an armed confrontation are so random for everyone involved from the shooter to the shootee that I learned to expect the un-expected in the incidents I was involved in or responded to... One victim receives a very minor wound and dies right there - another gets one or more hits, center of mass and survives... Good guy or bad guy, the outcome of gunshot wounds is not something you can predict with any certainty in my world.

That sort of stuff is why all of us are better off avoiding those kind of deals if at all possible. The actual after effects for those that survive gun shot wounds aren't anything to wish for either.

 

[Howland937]

One victim receives a very minor wound and dies right there - another gets one or more hits, center of mass and survives..

Going into shock could very well be a factor that the data doesn't reflect. In much the same way impaired drivers sometimes survive horrific vehicle accidents and sober people fall over dead without significant injury.