For Release: Thursday, April 16, 2026
Key Findings Released Following Murder-Suicide of Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor and Wife, Full Study to be Released Later This Month
Washington, DC — More than 1,000 people died in murder-suicides in America in 2025, 87 percent of the killers used a gun, and 65 percent involved an intimate partner according to key findings from the upcoming ninth edition of the Violence Policy Center (VPC) study American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States. The full study will be released later this month.
The study, which analyzes news reports of murder-suicides for the six-month period January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025, found that there were 237 murder-suicide events during this period, or nine murder-suicides per week. These incidents resulted in 526 deaths, of which 237 were suicides and 289 were homicides. Sixty-five percent of the murder-suicides involved an intimate partner. Doubling the total number of fatalities results in a yearly estimate of 1,052 murder-suicide deaths for 2025.
VPC Government Affairs Director Kristen Rand states, “The presence of a gun can escalate a domestic argument to homicide and suicide in an instant. The tragedy in Virginia is a very public reminder of this risk.”
Among American Roulette’s key findings:
- Of the 237 murder-suicides in the first half of 2025, 207 (87 percent) were known to involve a firearm.
- Sixty-five percent of the murder-suicides involved an intimate partner. Of these, 99 percent were females killed by their intimate partners, and 88 percent involved a gun.
- Most of the killers in murder-suicides were men. Of the 237 suicides, 219 (92 percent) were male, 12 (five percent) were female, and six (three percent) were not identified by sex.
- Most of the murder-suicide victims were women. Of the 289 homicide victims, 221 (76 percent) were female, 57 (20 percent) were male, and 11 (four percent) were not identified by sex.
- Eighty percent of the murder-suicides occurred in the home.
- 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).
No publicly available comprehensive national database or tracking system exists on murder-suicides in the United States. As a result, the VPC study necessarily relies on news reports for its analysis. The study’s estimate for the total number of murder-suicides per year is consistent with other research.
For past editions of American Roulette, please visit: https://vpc.org/revealing-the-impacts-of-gun-violence/murder-suicide/.
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The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
