Characteristics | Suspects, No. (%) |
Total | 1163 |
Age group, years | |
5–19 | 60 (8.8) |
20–44 | 473 (69.7) |
45–64 | 134 (19.7) |
65 and over | 12 (1.8) |
Unknown/missing (n=484)* | |
Sex | |
Male | 645 (78.0) |
Female | 182 (22.0) |
Unknown/missing (n=336)* | |
Race and ethnicity | |
White, non-Hispanic | 377 (36.3) |
Black or African American, non-Hispanic | 295 (28.4) |
Other, non-Hispanic† | 266 (24.4) |
Hispanic, any race | 102 (9.8) |
Unknown/missing (n=123)* | |
Suspect attempted suicide after incident | 41 (3.5) |
Mentally ill suspect | 54 (4.6) |
Suspect was also a victim in the incident‡ | 50 (4.3) |
Suspected alcohol use by suspect§ | 50 (7.2) |
Suspected other substance use by suspect§ | 52 (7.5) |
Suspect had prior contact with law enforcement§ | 71 (10.3) |
Victim–suspect pairs, No. (%) | |
Total | 1422 |
Victim to suspect relationship¶ ** | |
Child/stepchild†† | 178 (18.2) |
Intimate partner‡‡ | 156 (15.9) |
Acquaintance§§ | 154 (15.7) |
Stranger | 114 (11.6) |
Friend/roommate (not intimate partner)/schoolmate | 88 (9.0) |
Parent/grandparent/stepparent¶¶ | 74 (7.6) |
Sibling, grandchild or other family member (eg, cousin, uncle, etc) or in-law | 64 (6.5) |
Rival gang member | 14 (1.4) |
Other*** | 138 (14.1) |
Unknown/missing (n=442)* | |
Suspect history of abuse of victim¶ | 80 (5.6) |
Suspect was a caregiver for this victim¶ | 153 (10.8) |
Column percentage may not sum to 100.0% because of rounding error. Table includes 935 incidents involving 1087 homicide victims and 59 victims with undetermined intent (total victims: 1146). There were 1163 suspects identified, resulting in 1422 victim–suspect pairs.
*Unknown and missing values were omitted from the denominator when calculating percentages.
†Includes American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic; Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; two or more races, non-Hispanic; or other/unspecified, non-Hispanic.
‡Variable added in 2013.
§Variable added in 2016.
¶Variable described in victim–suspect pair.
**NVDRS recommends use of the sentence ‘The victim is the ____________ of the suspect’ as a guide for an appropriate description of the primary relationship of the victim to the suspect.
††Includes child, stepchild or child of suspect’s boyfriend/girlfriend.
‡‡Includes spouse, ex-spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend; ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend; girlfriend or boyfriend, unspecified whether current or ex; or victim was new partner of suspect’s ex-partner.
§§An ‘acquaintance’ is someone with or about whom the victim has had some prior interaction or knowledge.
¶¶Includes parent, grandparent, stepparent or intimate partner of suspect’s parent.
***Includes foster child; babysitter; current/former work relationship; other person, known to victim; or victim was law enforcement officer injured in the line of duty.
NVDRS, National Violent Death Reporting System.