NC State Crime Lab Reaches 10,000 Leads from Ballistic ID Tech

The state-of-the-art NIBIN system has helped law enforcement catch countless violent offenders.

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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The North Carolina State Crime Lab is celebrating a major milestone, reaching 10,000 leads from its use of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) technology. NIBIN creates a digital fingerprinting system for shell casings from fired weapons, allowing investigators to connect markings on casings to other crime scenes and help law enforcement catch shooters.

Why it matters

The NIBIN system has proven to be a powerful tool in North Carolina's efforts to take violent offenders off the streets. As gun violence remains a persistent issue, this advanced ballistic identification technology is a critical resource for law enforcement to quickly link crimes and apprehend suspects.

The details

The NIBIN system works by capturing the unique marks left on shell casings when a gun is fired, creating a digital database that can be used to connect evidence across multiple crime scenes. North Carolina was an early adopter of the technology in 1994, and the state's crime lab has now reached the milestone of 10,000 leads generated from NIBIN, leading to countless arrests of violent offenders.

  • The North Carolina State Crime Lab celebrated reaching 10,000 NIBIN leads on February 10, 2026.
  • North Carolina first adopted the NIBIN system in 1994.

The players

Jeff Jackson

The North Carolina Attorney General, who praised the NIBIN system's effectiveness in helping law enforcement catch shooters.

North Carolina State Crime Lab

The state's crime laboratory that has utilized the NIBIN ballistic identification technology to generate 10,000 leads for law enforcement.

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What they’re saying

“If you're out there and you got a firearm, and you're thinking about using it illegally, just know we have state-of-the-art technology that we are using to the greatest extent possible to hunt you down.”

— Jeff Jackson, North Carolina Attorney General (CBS 17)

What’s next

The North Carolina State Crime Lab plans to continue expanding its use of the NIBIN system to further aid law enforcement in solving gun-related crimes across the state.

The takeaway

The North Carolina State Crime Lab's milestone of 10,000 NIBIN leads demonstrates the power of advanced ballistic identification technology in the fight against gun violence. This innovative approach to forensics has proven invaluable for quickly linking crimes and apprehending suspects, making communities safer.