Domestic Violence Statistics

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Fayette County, PA — A 61-year old man was at a magisterial district court on domestic violence charges. Outside of the building he opened fire on his wife and followed her inside where he began firing into the lobby. Police fatally shot the man. Three people were taken to the hospital. All were released later that night. Days earlier the man’s wife had been granted a final Protection from Abuse order. In the petition for the PFA the man reportedly threatened her with a gun when she asked for a divorce and had choked her with a belt just days earlier.

Dauphin County, PA — A 38-year old man was helping a woman get her belongings from the residence she had shared with her estranged boyfriend following a domestic dispute earlier in the day. While the two were moving belongings from the home, the estranged boyfriend with whom the woman shared the home arrived at the residence and shot the man who was helping the woman before killing himself. The woman’s friend later died from his injuries.

Chester County, PA — On the day a 59-year-old man’s house was awarded to his ex-wife as part of their divorce being finalized, the man drove to the home and shot at his ex-wife in the driveway. She was not injured. He then drove to the retirement community where his parents, both in their late 80s, lived, and shot and killed them both. After the man fled the scene, police chased him for hours. The chase ended when the man crashed his vehicle into the side of his ex-wife’s house. The police found the man dead with a self-inflicted gun-shot wound.

Wyoming County, PA — After meeting a 24-year old woman online, a man moved from Oregon to Wyoming County. The boyfriend reported the woman missing to 911. A different woman who had been having a sexual relationship with him told police that she told him she was tired of him being with the victim. He responded by telling her he was going to kill the victim. When she later arrived at his home, she saw the victim’s body in the bathroom. The man told her that he had choked the victim and hit her on the head with a hammer. The two then cleaned up the blood, put the victim’s body in a car and took it to a nearby bridge. They tied bags of rocks to the body before dumping it into the Susquehanna River.

Lehigh County, PA — A 26-year old father intentionally exploded a vehicle using a homemade explosive device. The explosion resulted in a double-murder-suicide which killed the father who made and detonated the explosive, and his 2-year old son who was strapped into a car seat in the back of the vehicle, as well as 66-year old acquaintance. The explosive went off seconds after that man entered the vehicle. Authorities believe that this event was planned and intentional based on letters that the man sent to his family that were dated with the date of explosion.

Philadelphia County, PA — A 7-year-old girl was killed by her father before he hanged himself. The girl’s mother had a protection from abuse order against the father due to a history of documented violence. The girl’s mother and father had endured an extended and tenuous custody battle. Despite having ordered a mental health evaluation of the father due to a documented history of violence, a Judge allowed the father to continue to share custody with the mother.