Violent Crime Victimization

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

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Q:	How many juveniles are victims of murder in the United States?
A:	Between 1980 and 2006, an estimated 52,300 juveniles were murdered in the United States – 1,755 in 2006.

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Homicides of juveniles peaked in 1993 at about 2,840. The number of juvenile homicide victims in 2006 was 39% below the 1993 peak, but 14% above the 2003 level. Juveniles represented about 10% of all murder victims in 2006.
In 2006, 27% of murdered juveniles were female, 47% were black, and 53% were killed with a firearm. Of the juvenile murder victims with known offenders in 2006, 39% were killed by family members, 46% by acquaintances, and 15% by strangers.
In 2005, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (within the Centers for Disease Control) listed homicide as the fourth leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 11 and second for youth ages 12 to 17.
Between 1980 through 2006, juvenile offenders participated in about 1 of every 4 homicides of juveniles in which the offenders were known to law enforcement. In about one-fifth of the juvenile homicides in which known juvenile offenders participated, adult offenders were also involved.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/victims/qa02304.asp?qaDate=2006. Released on October 24, 2008.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C. and Kang, W. (2008). Easy Access to the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports: 1980-2006. Available on-line at: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/ezashr/.

Data Source(s): Federal Bureau of Investigation. Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980–2006 [machine-readable data files]. Washington, D.C.: FBI.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) [accessed July 2008 from www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars.