Homicide followed by Suicide

1. Most men who shoot and kill their intimate partners then kill themselves (Kentucky)

We analyzed data from the Kentucky Firearm Injury Statistics Program for 1998-2000. While less than 7% of all firearm homicides were followed by a firearm suicide, in two-thirds of the cases in which a woman was shot in an intimate partner-related homicide, the male perpetrator then killed himself with the firearm.  Few of these female victims had contact with the Department of Community-Based Services.

Walsh, Sabrina; Hemenway, David.  Intimate partner violence: Homicides followed by suicides in Kentucky.  Journal of Kentucky Medical Association.  2005; 103:667-70.

 

2. Most men who shoot and kill their intimate partners then kill themselves (many states)

We analyzed characteristics of homicides that were followed by suicide and by suicide attempts using data from multiple sites.  Fifty-nine percent of the men who killed a female intimate partner with a firearm also took their own life.

Barber, Catherine W; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David; Olson, Lenora M.; Nie, C;  Schaechter, Judy; Walsh, Sabrina.  Suicides and suicide attempts following homicide: Victim-suspect relationship, weapon type, and presence of antidepressants.  Homicide Studies.  2008; 12:285-97.

 

3. High rates of homicide followed by suicide in U.S. likely due to firearm access

In a comparison of homicides-suicides in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States (using NVDRS data), major differences — e.g., Switzerland and the U.S. have much higher rates of homicide-suicide than the Netherlands — are explainable by the availability of firearms.

Liem, Marieke; Barber, Catherine; Markwalder, Nora; Killias, Martin; Nieuwbeertaa, Paul.  Homicide–suicide and other violent deaths: An international comparison.  Forensic Science International.  2011; 207:70-76.