Domestic Violence Shooting Trends January 1 – December 31, 2022 Indianapolis, Indiana.

Abstract

BACKGROUND There has been a well-documented global increase in incidence of domestic violence over recent years. This report seeks to find if this increase is reflected in reports in the Indianapolis-area media. OBJECTIVE Examine trends in reports of domestic violence shootings from January 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2022. NOTE There are different definitions of domestic violence and which party(s) involved are counted as victims. The IGVP reports incidents based on media reports, which may not match other definitions. KEY FINDINGS There was a total of 57 distinct incidents of domestic violence-related gun violence reported, with 15 in 2020, 19 in 2021, and 23 in 2022. The incidents involved a total of 86 victims; 20 in 2020, 32 in 2021, and 34 in 2022. There was a 27% year-over-year increase in incidents and a 60% increase in victim numbers from 2020 to 2021. From 2021 to 2022, there was a 21% year-over-year increase in incidents with a 6% increase in victims from 2021 to 2022. 54 of the reported 86 domestic violence-related shootings, or 63%, were fatal compared with only 40% of reported shootings overall, indicating that domestic violence-related shootings may be fatal a greater percentage of the time than gun violence in other situations.