As illustrated in Graph 25 (below) and Graph 26 (page 42), victims were predominantly male (88.2%) and African-American (91.9%). Across all victims, the mean age was 30.0 years (median: 27.0, range: 1-99). About one-fifth of victims (19.7%) were under the age of 21, 36.7% were aged 21-29, 43.6% were aged 30 years of age or older (see Graph 27 on page 42).
The majority of victims had a documented history of ever being arrested (79.8%; see Graph 28 on page 43), about half had ever been arrested on a drug-related charge (54.6%; see Graph 29 on page 43), slightly less than a third had ever been arrested on a gun-related charge (30.3%; see Graph 30 on page 44), and 12.4% had been convicted of a gun-related charge (see Graph 31 on page 44).
Murder Suspects (based on cleared 2012-2013 cases through January 6, 2014)
As seen in Graph 32 (below), 37.6% of murders that occurred in 2012-2013 were cleared as of January 6, 2014 (includes cases cleared by arrest, warrant, or indictment; officer-related shooting; or suicide)4. Almost half (44.5%) of the murdered victims had no identified suspects as of this date, while 17.9% of murder victims had an identified suspect who had not yet been charged. In all, 157 unique suspects had been arrested for 2012-2013 murders as of January 6, 2014. These arrests cleared 129 murder victims across 119 unique incidents.
As shown in Graph 33 (page 46), most suspects who were arrested for a murder that occurred in 2012-2013 were male (86.6%) and African-American (94.9%; see Graph 34 on page 46). Over two-fifths of the suspects (42.0%) were under the age of 21 (median=22.0 years; mean=24.0 years; range: 14-55) (see Graph 35 on page 47). We also examined the age difference of victims and suspects (see Graph 36 on page 47). Two-thirds (65.5%) of suspects were younger than their victims, 6.5% were the same age, and 28.0% were older than their victims. On average, suspects were 5.1 years younger than their victim (median: 5.0 years younger; range: -48 to +38 years).
Non-Fatal Shooting Victims
As illustrated in Graph 55 (below), victims were predominantly male (87.9%) and African-American (93.8%; see Graph 56 on page 65). Across all victims, the mean age was 25.5 years (median: 23.0, range: 4-67). Over one-third of victims (37.7%) were under the age of 21, 35.5% were aged 21-29, 26.6% were 30 years of age or older (see Graph 57 on page 65). Two victims’ age remain unknown.
NON-FATAL SHOOTING SUSPECTS (cleared cases through January 6, 2014)
As seen in Graph 62 (page 69), 24.3% of non-fatal shooting cases that occurred during 2012-2013 were cleared as of January 6, 2014 (includes cases cleared by arrest, warrant, or indictment; officer-related shooting; or suicide)5. Almost three-fourths (73.1%) of the cases had no identified suspects as of this date, while 2.6% of cases had an identified suspect who had not yet been charged. In all, 155 unique suspects had been arrested for non-fatal shootings that occurred during 2012-2013 as of January 6, 2014. These arrests cleared 172 non-fatal shooting victims across 116 unique incidents.
Most suspects who were arrested for a 2012-2013 non-fatal shooting were male (90.3%) and African-American (95.5%) (see Graph 63 on page 69 and Graph 64 on page 70). Over two-fifths of the suspects (45.2%) were under the age of 21 and 82.0% were under the age of 30 (median=21.0 years; mean=24.3 years; range: 14-62) (see Graph 65 on page 70). We also examined the age difference of victims and suspects (see Graph 66 on page 71). Half (49.8%) of suspects were younger than their victims, 10.0% were the same age, and 40.3% were older than their victims. On average, suspects were 2.1 years younger than their victim (median: 0.0 years younger; range: -42 to +34 years).