More than 1,000 people died in murder-suicides in America in 2025. Ninety-two percent of the killers were male, 87 percent of the killers used a gun, and 65 percent involved an intimate partner, according to the ninth edition of the Violence Policy Center (VPC) study American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States.
Among the findings:
- Nine murder-suicides occur across the country each week, claiming more than 1,000 lives annually.
- Of the 237 murder-suicides in the first half of 2025, 207 (87 percent) were known to involve a firearm.
- Twenty-seven children and teens less than 18 years of age were survivors who witnessed some aspect of the murder-suicide.
- Forty-five of the homicide victims were children and teens less than 18 years of age (16 percent).
Specific recommendations from the study’s findings include:
- Passage of stronger domestic violence prevention legislation and the establishment of state domestic violence task forces.
- Restricting access to firearms where there is an increased risk of a murder-suicide; for example, where an individual has a history of domestic violence and/or has threatened suicide.
- Providing aid to older caregivers; depression and the strain of providing care for a spouse in failing health have been cited as a significant contributing factor to murder-suicide among older persons.
- Establishing a comprehensive, up-to-date, and publicly accessible nationwide database to track murder-suicides.
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