31 People Die in 31 Days During Deadly Wave of Domestic Violence in PA

Summer in Pennsylvania turned out to be incredibly dangerous and deadly. But not because of stifling heat waves or raging storms. Rather, it was domestic violence that took its toll and claimed lives here in our commonwealth.

From June 22, to July 22, 2008, 17 Pennsylvania counties experienced 18 lethal domestic violence incidents involving shootouts, manhunts, standoffs, multiple murders and suicides. (Allegheny, Berks, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Philadelphia, Potter, Somerset, Susquehanna, Washington)

The carnage left 31 people dead – 21 of them were victims, including a 13-year-old girl shot by her father, a 2-year-old girl and 11-month-old boy, asphyxiated by their father who also killed their mother, and a 14-month-old girl, ejected from a car that was rammed into a concrete barrier by another car driven by her father. Eight were perpetrators who committed suicide; one was shot in self-defense and one man was killed in a shootout with another man, reportedly in a fight over a woman. Firearms were used in 13 of the 18 total incidents.

Law enforcement response to the crime scenes involved at least 30 municipal police departments, seven state police barracks, two Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT), and volunteer fire departments, ambulance services and local fire police. An 8-hour manhunt for one of the killers also involved Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, State Game Commission, two K-9 units, helicopters, Park Rangers, Bureau of Forestry and Red Cross. Another incident involved both the FBI and the U.S. Marshals.

The loss of life is profound as is the impact of the loss on those left behind, especially the children the five who were orphaned and the fourteen who lost one of their parents as a result of these terrible tragedies that forever altered their families and their futures.

And on the other side of the yellow tape, families, friends and neighbors are reeling and questioning how and why such bad things happened and what could have prevented them.

PCADV joins with communities across the commonwealth in mourning for the lives lost and we extend our deepest sympathy to their families and friends who are now struggling in the aftermath of these horrific crimes.

For victims of domestic violence, please know that help is only a phone call away. FREE and CONFIDENTIAL help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the commonwealth. Click here to find the program in your county or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

For members of the community, we all need to recognize that the safety of victims and the accountability of batterers reach far beyond the doors of the local domestic violence program and police department; that we all share responsibility and there are things we can do in our daily lives to address the violence. Call 9-1-1 or the police when you see or hear someone being abused, offer a victim a ride to a local shelter or a place to make a phone call, help to hold batterers accountable (i.e., if you know someone who is a batterer, let them know its not okay and you wont continue a friendship with someone who is a batterer), and support shelter services by volunteering or making monetary donations.