The Difference Between Living and Dying: Victim Characteristics and Motive Among Nonfatal Shootings and Gun Homicides

Abstract

Using both official and unofficial data sources, researchers examined nonfatal (n 5 617) and fatal shooting (n 5 159) victim characteristics over an 18-month period in Indianapolis. This research revealed that the typical shooting victim was male, non-White, almost 29 years old, had been arrested prior to inclusion in this study, and had been shot more than once. Interestingly, this research supports the notion that nonfatal shooting and homicide victims are different, especially as they relate to victim age, gunshot wound severity, and shooting motive. It highlights the need for better gun violence data collection beyond what currently exists. Striving for improved, more comprehensive cross-sector data collection has implications beyond just police policy and practice to include public health and prevention efforts.

Understanding Victim Cooperation in Cases of Nonfatal Gun Assaults

“…As noted by Birdsall, Kirby, and McManus (2017), increasing our understanding of police-victim interactions will only serve to improve victim cooperation at all criminal justice system decision points. (Huebner & Hipple, 2018;Hipple & Magee, 2017).The two most commonly used official crime data sources, the UCR and NIBRS do not define a nonfatal shooting as a crime in and of itself. In both systems, they are considered aggravated assaults (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004, 2013b.…”

“…First, data on the location of each injury was denoted. In cases where the victim was shot multiple times, researchers coded all injuries and then selected the most serious wound location according to the 1990 AIS which is consistent with work of this type (Hipple & Magee, 2017). Next, we collapsed wound location into a binary variable (1 = center mass including head, neck, chest or torso; 0 = extremities including arms, legs, hands, or feet) under the assumption that center mass injuries represent the greater prospect of a life-threatening injury than an extremity injury.7 F viii The sample was evenly split between injuries that involved the center mass (49%) and extremities.…”

“…Nonfatal shootings also present a unique analytic case and include aggravated assaults where a penetrating physical injury from a firearm is present. To date most research on gun crimes have focused on homicide, but existing research suggests nonfatal shootings occur at least four times more often than gun homicides (Hipple & Magee, 2017). In addition, gun assaults engender a fear of retaliation that is largely unique to this crime type, making victim cooperation essential to solving cases (Papachristos, 2009).…”

“… 1. Criminal nonfatal shootings are inherently difficult to count (Hipple & Magee, 2017; Huebner & Hipple, 2018). The two most commonly used official crime data sources, the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), do not define a nonfatal shooting as a crime in and of itself.…”

Network Distance and Fatal Outcomes among Gunshot Wound Victims

“…The other independent variables of interest that are available in the model include the age of the victim, the sex of the victim, the race of the victim, and whether the shooting occurred outdoors. The age of the victim has obvious implications for the probability of survival, but the other demographic factors may also be associated with the nature of the shooting incident (Hipple & Magee, 2017).…”