Date: 2024-12-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021415
DEADLY FORCE
In 2015, The Washington Post began to log every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States.
Original article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
Fatal Force December 20, 2020 January 10, 2021 February 1, 2021 February 11, 2021 February 27, 2021 March 14, 2021 April 1, 2021 April 15, 2021 May 1, 2021 May 23, 2021 July 4, 2021 July 27, 2021 September 3, 2021 September 18, 2021 October 1, 2021 October 17, 2021 November 1, 2021 November 28, 2021 Xzavier D. Hill, 18 Edwin Adan Velasquez, 20 David Savela, 43 Kelly Shannon Bowen, 51 Roderick Marcell Inge, 29 Edward James Shadder, 55 Ricardo Torres, 32 Alexis C. Wilson, 19 David Marshall, 31 Adrian Cameron, 47 Christofer Conner, 40 Dylan Bush, 33
Read about our methodology Download the data Submit a tip
In 2015, The Washington Post began to log every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States. In that time there have been more than 5,000 such shootings recorded by The Post.
After Michael Brown, an unarmed Black man, was killed in 2014 by police in Ferguson, Mo., a Post investigation found that the FBI undercounted fatal police shootings by more than half. This is because reporting by police departments is voluntary and many departments fail to do so.
The Post’s data relies primarily on news accounts, social media postings and police reports. Analysis of more than five years of data reveals that the number and circumstances of fatal shootings and the overall demographics of the victims have remained relatively constant.
Rate of shootings remains steady
Despite the unpredictable events that lead to fatal shootings, police nationwide have shot and killed almost the same number of people annually — nearly 1,000 — since The Post began its project. Probability theory may offer an explanation. It holds that the quantity of rare events in huge populations tends to remain stable absent major societal changes, such as a fundamental shift in police culture or extreme restrictions on gun ownership.
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 total shootings Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 2021 870 2020 1,021
Black Americans are killed at a much higher rate than White Americans
Although half of the people shot and killed by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White Americans. Hispanic Americans are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate.
The rate at which black Americans are killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans.
1,557killed(total) 1,084killed 2,970killed 244killed 42M 39M 197M 49M Black37 permillion Hispanic28 permillion White15 permillion Other5 permillion U.S. population
Higher rate of police killings ⟶
Most victims are young, male
An overwhelming majority of people shot and killed by police are male — over 95 percent. More than half the victims are between 20 and 40 years old.
Victims by age -5–-1 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65–69 70–74 75–79 80–84 85+ 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000 1,100
Victims by gender
6,498 309 Male Female
Shootings happen across the country
Police shootings have taken place in every state and have occurred more frequently in cities where populations are concentrated. States with the highest rates of shootings are New Mexico, Alaska and Oklahoma.
Each circle on the map below marks the location of a deadly shooting.
Shootings per million people
066 HI AL AR AZ CA CO CT DE FL GA IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY AK
There are 400 shootings with unverified locations that are not shown on the map.
Search the database
This database contains records of every fatal shooting in the United States by a police officer in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 2015. It is updated regularly as fatal shootings are reported and as facts emerge about individual cases.
Note: When filtering by weapon, victims armed with multiple weapons will appear in multiple categories.
State Gender Race Age Mental illness Weapon Body camera Fleeing the scene Year Search by name
6,815 people shot and killed by police
An unidentified person, a 30-year-old man, was shot on Dec. 16, 2021, in a house in Clinton, Utah.
No/unknown mental illness No body cam recording Fleeing by foot Sources: KSTU • ABC4
An unidentified person, a woman armed with a vehicle, was shot on Dec. 15, 2021, in a parking lot in Memphis, Tenn.
No/unknown mental illness No body cam recording Fleeing by car Sources: Fox 13 • wjhl11
1 of 6,815
The Post's reporting on fatal police shootings
- Months after a fatal police shooting, a young officer turns his gun on himself Dec. 19, 2018
- Fatal police shootings of unarmed people have significantly declined, experts say May 7, 2018
- Nationwide, police shot and killed nearly 1,000 people in 2017 Jan. 6, 2018
- In two years, police killed 86 people brandishing guns that look real — but aren’tDec. 18, 2016
- In fatal shootings by police, 1 in 5 officers’ names go undisclosed April 1, 2016
The Washington Post's database contains records of every fatal shooting in the United States by a police officer in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 2015.
In 2015, The Post began tracking more than a dozen details about each killing — including the race of the deceased, the circumstances of the shooting, whether the person was armed and whether the person was experiencing a mental-health crisis — by culling local news reports, law enforcement websites and social media, and by monitoring independent databases such as Killed by Police and Fatal Encounters. The Post conducted additional reporting in many cases.
The Post is documenting only those shootings in which a police officer, in the line of duty, shoots and kills a civilian — the circumstances that most closely parallel the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., which began the protest movement culminating in Black Lives Matter and an increased focus on police accountability nationwide. The Post is not tracking deaths of people in police custody, fatal shootings by off-duty officers or non-shooting deaths.
The FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention log fatal shootings by police, but officials acknowledge that their data is incomplete. Since 2015, The Post has documented more than twice as many fatal shootings by police as recorded on average annually.
The Post’s database is updated regularly as fatal shootings are reported and as facts emerge about individual cases. The Post seeks to make the database as comprehensive as possible. To provide information about fatal police shootings since Jan. 1, 2015, send us an email at policeshootingsfeedback@washpost.com.
Credits
Research and Reporting: Julie Tate, Jennifer Jenkins and Steven Rich
Design and development by John Muyskens and Joe Fox.
Edited by David Fallis and Danielle Rindler.