Murder Statistics

In some boys it is a time when problems that were swept under the rug in childhood come bursting out into the world, as the suddenly powerful teenager replaces the previously powerless young child.
- Lost Boys, Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them, James Garbarino, Ph.D.

• Between 1976 and 1994 an estimated 37,000 children were murdered.
- FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-1994.

• Children under the age of 18 accounted for 11% of all murder victims in the U.S. in 1994. Nearly 1/2 of the 2,660 child victims were between ages 15 and 17. About 1 in 5 child victims were known to be killed by another child.
- FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-1994.

• 2/3 of the victims of stranger abduction homicide are 14-17 years old.
- Finklehor, p.10.

• The victim-offender relationship in child murder varies with the age of the victim: In most murders of a young child, a family member killed the child, while in most murders of an older child, age 15 to 17, the perpetrator was an acquaintance of the victim or was unknown to law enforcement authorities. About 1 in 5 child murders were committed by a family member.
- FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-1994.

• Half of all child murders in 1994 were committed with a handgun; about 7 in 10 victims age 15 to 17 were killed with a handgun.
- FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-1994.

• There are 23,000 homicides each year. 10% are committed by perpetrators under 18 years of age.
- FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-1994.