The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Group releases fatal domestic violence report
There were 91 people killed in 69 fatal domestic violence incidents in Ohio between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018.
Those figures come from the Ohio Domestic Violence Network which compiled the data from media reports. It’s the third year the organization has released such a report, stating in a news release it is hoping to raise awareness of the frequency of fatal domestic violence incidents in the state.
At least 58 percent of the victims were killed by a gun, according to the report and at least 71 percent of the incidents involved a gun. Both of those figures exclude guns used by law enforcement. Seven attackers were killed by law enforcement. Three officers were killed by a perpetrator. Overall 73 people were killed or injured by guns.
Forty-six people killed in domestic violence incidents were male and 45 were female. All women who were killed were victims. Twentyone of the fatalities were suicides, all by male perpetrators.
Eight of the 91 people killed were third-parties to the incident. Three children were killed and 22 percent of the cases overall involved children at the scene.
In at least 46 percent of the cases, the victim had ended the relationship or was in the process of ending the relationship.
The victims’ ages ranged from 1 to 74 and the incidents occurred in homes, public places and roadsides in 28 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Franklin County, now Ohio’s most populous county, had the most fatalities with 16. Cuyahoga County was second with 15. There were five deaths in Lorain County and one in Lake County.
The number of incidents and fatalities were down from the same period a year ago. There were 116 fatalities in 86 cases, according to the organization. Though the overall numbers were down, Ohio Domestic Violence Network Family Systems Advocacy Program Director Jo Simonsen noted that the number of children and law enforcement officers killed increased.
“Protection orders, safety planning, strong public policy and training for professionals on indicators of high danger, such as strangulation, are critical to saving lives,” Simonsen said in a statement.
Franklin County, now Ohio’s most populous county, had the most fatalities with 16. Cuyahoga County was second with 15. There were five deaths in Lorain County and one in Lake County.