• Posted February 10, 2025

Mass Shootings That Claim Most Kids' Lives Are Done by Family Members

When most people think of kids killed in mass shootings, they imagine it occurring at the hands of a stranger, and at school.

The reality, according to a new report, is that most children who lose their lives to a mass shooting usually knew the perpetrator well -- a family member who commits the crime at home. 

“People tend to think that gun violence occurs mostly at random events that they cannot protect their child against,” said study senior author Dr. Stephanie Chao.

Instead, Chao added, mass shootings more often come during an outburst of violence within families. 

The new study found that 59% of U.S. children who lost their lives to a mass shooting perished during that type of scenario.

“Domestic violence doesn’t make headlines because it happens with more frequency," said Chao, a professor of surgery at Stanford University. "But that is precisely why it is more dangerous, because of the frequency. Over 22 million U.S. children live in a home with a gun. If a domestic disturbance arises in those homes, the risk of death dramatically increases.”

Chao's team published its findings Feb. 10 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The researchers defined a mass shooting as any gun-related incident that caused at least four deaths. They then looked at data on 121 such incidents taking place in the United States between early 2009 and late 2020. 

Each of these mass shootings claimed the life of at least one person under the age of 18. In all, 308 children lost their lives during these 121 shootings.

According to Chao's team, 59% of the children killed lost their lives at the hands of a relative -- parents, aunts and uncles, siblings, grandparents and cousins. In 40% of the cases, the perpetrator was a parent.

Much less common was death at the hands of an acquaintance (14.6%), stranger (12%), classmate (6.8%) or neighbor (2.6%), the study found.

“When American parents are surveyed about their concerns, everyone is worried about school shootings,” Chai said, probably because the media tends to focus so acutely on these tragic events. “The message from our data is really simple: Our fears are incorrectly placed. Our homes may, in fact, be more dangerous than schools.”

There are proven ways to help reduce the danger to children, the Stanford team noted, including removing guns from homes plagued by mental health issues and/or domestic violence. 

“We need research and policies that approach gun violence as a public health problem, so we can best understand how to prevent it and treat it,” Chao concluded.

More information

If you or a loved one is concerned about domestic violence, help is at at hand at the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

SOURCE: Stanford University, news release, Feb. 10, 2025