- 1
- 2
- next
- | single page
Struck in critical locations by a single bullet traveling at supersonic speed, few of the sniper's victims ever had a chance.
Three of the 12 confirmed targets were struck in the head, and all three died. Trauma doctors say they cannot imagine anyone surviving such an injury, which would immediately shut down all neurologic activity.
Most of the others who died in the shootings were struck in the chest, back or upper abdomen, where a high-speed bullet can rip through the heart or major blood vessels. In such injuries, victims tend to lose blood faster than doctors can replace it - if they can get to a doctor at all.
"The sniper has used only one bullet on every person that he's shot, but some of these were instantly fatal, and there would have been no hope for any intervening care," said Dr. Tom Lyons, medical director of the emergency room at Bowie Health Center, where one of three victims who survived was initially treated.
"If you're shot in the heart, with rare exception, that's going to be immediately fatal. Same as if you've been shot in the brain."
Trauma surgeons tried frantically to save Conrad Johnson, the 35-year-old bus driver who was shot in the Aspen Hill section of Montgomery County yesterday morning.
But the bullet entered just beneath the rib cage and sliced through his liver, severing major blood vessels and causing extensive bleeding, said Dr. Dany Westerband, part of the surgical team at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.
Vital organs, vessels
When a bullet from a high-powered rifle strikes the blood-rich area of the upper abdomen surgeons often have difficulty keeping patients from bleeding to death.
"If we can get in and provide blood as fast as they lose it, we can fix them. But if we can't, they can't survive," said Dr. Kerry Powell, an emergency physician at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Dr. Thomas M. Scalea, physician-in-chief at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said that whether a patient lives or dies depends on where - and how many times - a person is shot, how well the person's body responds to the injury and how quickly he or she gets medical treatment.
"It's a function of anatomy, physiology and medical care," he said.
"Being shot in the head is probably the most lethal. Being shot in the torso - the chest or the abdomen - is probably next most lethal. Being shot in the neck probably comes in around number three," Scalea said.
The .223-caliber rounds delivered by the sniper's rifle can travel 3,000 feet per second, more than twice as fast as rounds shot by handguns used in most street violence. It is the bullet's velocity - not its size - that makes the weapon so deadly.
Bullet tumbles
When the bullet hits structures inside the body, it tends to wobble or tumble end over end. Its energy is dispersed outward, so the bullet destroys not just tissue directly in its path but also in a widening zone around it. It also creates a vacuum in its wake that destroys tissue.
"The energy actually creates a cavity around the [bullet's] track," said Dr. Steven Johnson, a Shock Trauma surgeon. "That's one reason why typically the entrance hole is smaller than the exit."
Some people attacked with lower-powered weapons have been known to survive gunshots to the head. Such was the case of James Brady, the former White House press secretary who was shot in the forehead during the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Doctors also report cases of people who survived self-inflicted gunshots to the head.
Three of the 12 confirmed targets were struck in the head, and all three died. Trauma doctors say they cannot imagine anyone surviving such an injury, which would immediately shut down all neurologic activity.
"The sniper has used only one bullet on every person that he's shot, but some of these were instantly fatal, and there would have been no hope for any intervening care," said Dr. Tom Lyons, medical director of the emergency room at Bowie Health Center, where one of three victims who survived was initially treated.
"If you're shot in the heart, with rare exception, that's going to be immediately fatal. Same as if you've been shot in the brain."
Trauma surgeons tried frantically to save Conrad Johnson, the 35-year-old bus driver who was shot in the Aspen Hill section of Montgomery County yesterday morning.
But the bullet entered just beneath the rib cage and sliced through his liver, severing major blood vessels and causing extensive bleeding, said Dr. Dany Westerband, part of the surgical team at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.
When a bullet from a high-powered rifle strikes the blood-rich area of the upper abdomen surgeons often have difficulty keeping patients from bleeding to death.
"If we can get in and provide blood as fast as they lose it, we can fix them. But if we can't, they can't survive," said Dr. Kerry Powell, an emergency physician at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Dr. Thomas M. Scalea, physician-in-chief at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said that whether a patient lives or dies depends on where - and how many times - a person is shot, how well the person's body responds to the injury and how quickly he or she gets medical treatment.
"It's a function of anatomy, physiology and medical care," he said.
"Being shot in the head is probably the most lethal. Being shot in the torso - the chest or the abdomen - is probably next most lethal. Being shot in the neck probably comes in around number three," Scalea said.
The .223-caliber rounds delivered by the sniper's rifle can travel 3,000 feet per second, more than twice as fast as rounds shot by handguns used in most street violence. It is the bullet's velocity - not its size - that makes the weapon so deadly.
"The energy actually creates a cavity around the [bullet's] track," said Dr. Steven Johnson, a Shock Trauma surgeon. "That's one reason why typically the entrance hole is smaller than the exit."
Some people attacked with lower-powered weapons have been known to survive gunshots to the head. Such was the case of James Brady, the former White House press secretary who was shot in the forehead during the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Doctors also report cases of people who survived self-inflicted gunshots to the head.
