Surveillance for Violent Deaths —
National Violent Death Reporting System, 18 States, 2014

Abstract

Problem/ConditionIn 2014, approximately 59,000 persons died in the United States as a result of violence-related injuries. This report summarizes data from CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) regarding violent deaths from 18 U.S. states for 2014. Results are reported by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, marital status, location of injury, method of injury, circumstances of injury, and other selected characteristics.Reporting Period Covered2014.Description of SystemNVDRS collects data from participating states regarding violent deaths. Data are obtained from death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, law enforcement reports, and secondary sources (e.g., child fatality review team data, supplemental homicide reports, hospital data, and crime laboratory data). This report includes data from 18 states that collected statewide data for 2014 (Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin). NVDRS collates documents for each death and links deaths that are related (e.g., multiple homicides, a homicide followed by a suicide, or multiple suicides) into a single incident.ResultsFor 2014, a total of 22,098 fatal incidents involving 22,618 deaths were captured by NVDRS in the 18 states included in this report. The majority of deaths were suicides (65.6%), followed by homicides (22.5%), deaths of undetermined intent (10.0%), deaths involving legal intervention (1.3%) (i.e., deaths caused by law enforcement and other persons with legal authority to use deadly force, excluding legal executions), and unintentional firearm deaths (<1%). The term “legal intervention” is a classification incorporated into the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) and does not denote the lawfulness or legality of the circumstances surrounding a death caused by law enforcement. Suicides occurred at higher rates among males, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN), non-Hispanic whites, persons aged 45–54 years, and males aged ≥75 years. Suicides were preceded primarily by a mental health, intimate partner, substance abuse, or physical health problem or a crisis during the previous or upcoming 2 weeks. Homicide rates were higher among males and persons aged <1 year and 15–44 years; rates were highest among non-Hispanic black and AI/AN males. Homicides primarily were precipitated by arguments and interpersonal conflicts, occurrence in conjunction with another crime, or related to intimate partner violence (particularly for females). When the relationship between a homicide victim and a suspected perpetrator was known, it was most often either an acquaintance/friend or an intimate partner. Legal intervention death rates were highest among males and persons aged 20–44 years; rates were highest among non-Hispanic black males and Hispanic males. Precipitating factors for the majority of legal intervention deaths were alleged criminal activity in...

Correlates of Intimate Partner Homicide among Male Suicide Decedents with Known Intimate Partner Problems

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Best Available Evidence for Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Life Span

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Rate of positive depression screenings among Marshallese patients with diabetes in Northwest Arkansas

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