Shooting Reconstruction
March 30 – April 3, 2026, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
This intensive five-day course is designed to provide law enforcement officers and investigators with the skills necessary to reconstruct a shooting scene, while properly documenting the evidence, and procedures used in reconstruction the shooting scene(s). Connecticut POST credits will be awarded.
Course Content
The curriculum covers a wide range of topics essential to developing the skills necessary to successfully reconstruct a shooting scene through various techniques and procedures:
- Observations of crime scene analysis and reconstruction methods
- Measuring bullet trajectories through various techniques
- Analyze bullet penetrations and trajectories through various materials to include vehicles, construction materials, glass windows
- Ballistic damage documentation
- Proper documentation of firearms and firearms related evidence
- Dynamics of and biology of gunshot wounds
- Chemical testing
- Proper documentation of shooting reconstruction reports
- Preparation for testimony
Practical Experience
Participants will engage in hands-on, real-time practical exercises throughout the course. These exercises include:
- Participate in, observe, and analyze bullet penetrations and trajectories
- Conduct exercises showing ballistic damage and reporting
- Conduct exercises in proper documentation of firearms evidence
- Preparation of a properly written shooting reconstruction report
- Preparation for testimony through active participation in mock scenes and case presentations
Instructor: Matthew Steiner
Matthew Steiner is a retired First Grade Detective with the New York City Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit. He is a twenty-five-year veteran with over twenty years of experience as a crime scene investigator. Matthew was the lead instructor for the Crime Scene Unit. He teaches several courses with students from city, state and federal agencies. Matthew is an instructor for the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training teaching their Advanced Forensic Investigations for Hazardous Environments course. He also works internationally with the U.S. Department of State’s Antiterrorism Assistance Program Teaching Terrorist Crime Scene Investigations course. He teaches several courses with TriTech Forensics covering crime scene photography and shooting incident reconstruction.
Detective Steiner has investigated over 2000 Crime Scenes. He has been deemed an expert witness in Latent Prints, Crime Scene Investigation, Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, Shooting Reconstruction and Crime Scene Reconstruction in New York City, State and Federal Courts. Matthew is also a Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst with the International Association of Identification. He is an active member of the International Association of Identification, American Academy of Forensics Sciences, Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction, consulting board member of American Investigative Society of Cold Cases and International Association of Blood Stain Pattern Analysts.
Det Steiner has participated in the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Science Research and Development Technical Working Group. Matthew has also served as a Technical Peer Reviewer for NIJ assessing grant proposals. He is an active member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Organization of Scientific Area Committee for Forensic Science (OSAC) working with the video/imaging technology and analysis subcommittee. Matthew works on the photography subcommittee for the FBI’s Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE). Detective Steiner is a committee member on the Crime Scene Standards Board of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Matthew has also been featured as an expert witness for movies, television, online and print media. He has a recurring feature with WIRED for their “Technique Critique” series. Detective Steiner has assisted in crime scene reconstructions and subject matter expert commentary for ABC, CBS News, Oxygen, Discovery, E! Entertainment and Investigation Discovery Networks.
Contact Tom Grimaldi (Director of Training) at tgrimaldi@newhaven.edu for more information
