New York Killers, and Those Killed, by Numbers

NY Times ^ | April 28, 2006 | JO CRAVEN McGINTY

[neverdem]

The oldest killer was 88; he murdered his wife. The youngest was 9; she stabbed her friend. The women were more than twice as likely as men to murder a current spouse or lover. But once the romance was over, only the men killed their exes. The deadliest day was on July 10, 2004, when eight people died in separate homicides.

Five people eliminated a boss; 10 others murdered co-workers. Males who killed favored firearms, while women and girls chose knives as often as guns. More homicides occurred in Brooklyn than in any other borough. More happened on Saturday. And roughly a third are unsolved.

At the end of each year, the New York Police Department reports the number of killings — there were 540 in 2005. Typically, much is made of how the number has fallen in recent years — to totals not seen since the early 1960's. But beyond summarizing the overarching trends, the police spend little time compiling the individual details.

The New York Times obtained the basic records for every murder in the city over the last three years, and while the events make for disturbing reading, the numbers can hint at trends, occasionally solve a mystery and in at least some straightforward way answer for the city the questions of who kills and who is killed in the five boroughs.

From 2003 through 2005, 1,662 murders were committed in New York. No information, beyond an occasional physical description, is available on the killers in the unsolved cases.

Of the rest, men and boys were responsible for 93 percent of the murders; they killed with guns about two-thirds of the time; their victims tended to be other men and boys; and in more than half the cases, the killer and the victim knew each other.

[neverdem]

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20060428_HOMICIDE_MAP.html Beware, this map download took at least a few minutes with Verizon DSL.

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
GIRL, 11, KILLED BY FRIEND, 9 A man in the Linden Houses in East New York, Brooklyn, placed a candle in the hall as a memorial last May. A neighbor, an 11-year-old girl, died after being stabbed by a playmate.

Michael Nagle for The New York Times
GATHERING EVIDENCE An officer searched for fingerprints after a man was stabbed to death in his kitchen in Brooklyn, one of the city's 566 murders reported in 2004.

Uli Seit for The New York Times
SHOOTING IN QUEENS A man was shot to death inside a coffee shop in Sunnyside, Queens, last November. The gunman chased the victim for at least a block before the crime in front of several witnesses.

[Prokopton]

Wow! More than 90% minority killer and minority victim.

[ClearCase_guy]

We need to pull out. It's a quagmire.

[2banana]

Looks like blacks and other minorities do most of the killing - and kill mostly other black and minorities. I am sure the NAACP will speak about this any day now...

[pabianice]

Stupidity is contageous.

[Rakkasan1]

and in more than half the cases, the killer and the victim knew each other.

formerly referred to as "gangs".

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[OldFriend]

Dinkins time rapidly returning to NYC.

The subways are filled with graffiti again, and the shooting deaths of innocent standersby is escalating.

[Zhang Fei]

formerly referred to as "gangs".

And that's leaving out contract murders. It's been estimated that 90% of NYC murders are gang- or drug-related, typically over territorial issues.

[AngryJawa]

Dinkins time rapidly returning to NYC.

Yes it is...and under the "leadership" of a pathetic, stoneless RINO.

[Canedawg]

LOL@We need to pull out. It's a quagmire.

Not buying that it's Dinkins time again.
Considering the demographics shown here, and the continued and accelerated white flight, there's more to this than who the mayor is.

[keat]

Looking at the map - nobody killed in Central Park. Wow.

[ArmstedFragg]

We need to pull out. It's a quagmire.

Absolutely. It appears from the statistics that since George Bush invaded Iraq, over 2000 New Yorkers have died.

[jordan8]

These statistics are all lies, I watch Law'n'Order every week and I can assure you that most killers in NYC are rich white people.

[paddles]

"Let's not bicker and argue over 'oo killed 'oo."

[saquin]

Dinkins time rapidly returning to NYC.

This article is merely an in-depth analysis of crime figures. Crime is still declining in New York, as it has been for many years.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Good thing they have such strict gun control in NY. Firearms only accounted for 66% of the homicides. If they totally outlaw firearms like DC, they can drop it to the mid 80%.