Murder-suicide statistic: killers are 91 percent white males
According to statistics on murder-suicides reported late last month by Mariah Timms for The Tennessean, using data from the National Institute of Justice, the following applied to cases in the United States:
• 91 percent of those committing murder-suicide are said to be “non-Hispanic white men, with 88 percent using a firearm;”
• “Seventy percent of the killings involve an intimate partner, and most occur in the home,” Timms quoted Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center.
• This nation has three times more incidents than Canada, eight times more than Great Britain and 15 times more than Australia.
Moreover, Timms also reported “recent cases in Middle Tennessee have grabbed headlines, including one in which four people were killed in Murfreesboro in May. In that case, the Rutherford County Sheriff determined a man killed his wife, her parents and then himself.
“A child who had been in the home earlier in the day had been removed.”
For anyone in crisis who is seeking reassurance or who knows of someone in crisis, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255) seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The NSP Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting TALK to 741741.
