The Case for Studying Criminal Nonfatal Shootings: Evidence from Four Midwest Cities

Abstract

Using law enforcement data from four Midwest communities, we document the similarities and differences between criminal nonfatal and fatal shooting incidents, including the spatial dimensions of the events. We present a definition for a nonfatal shooting incident that guides our victim and incident characteristic comparisons. Our work suggests that law enforcement agencies should build capacity for standardized data collection surrounding gun violence to include nonfatal shootings especially for use in evaluations of gun violence prevention strategies.