American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States, 2011 Data

Abstract

At least 691 Americans died in 313 murder-suicides during the first six months of 2011 with the vast majority (89.5 percent) involving a firearm....Using these figures, the VPC estimates that more than 1,300 Americans died in murder-suicides in 2011 and that 12 murder-suicides occur in the United States each week. For the study, the VPC used Internet news reports to collect every reported murder-suicide in the United States from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. Of the 313 murder-suicide incidents, 280 were known to involve a firearm (89.5 percent). Of the 691 murder-suicide deaths, 313 were suicides and 378 were homicides. Ninety percent of murder-suicides were committed by men. Seventy-two percent of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner (spouse, common-law spouse, ex-spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, or ex-girlfriend/boyfriend). Of these, 94 percent were females killed by their intimate partners. Eleven states had 10 or more murder-suicides in the six-month period of the study. In order, these states were: California (34); Florida (27); Texas (20); Louisiana (14); Pennsylvania (14); Illinois (12); Alabama (11); New York (11); Tennessee (11); Virginia (11); and, Arizona (10). (Violence Policy Center Press Release)