Austin gun violence rates higher than Texas, US rates, report says

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The National Institute for Criminal Reform (NICJR) partnering with the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) and the Austin Police Department released a summary analysis describing gun violence in Austin in a memo on Tuesday.

Over a 15-year period, Austin’s homicide rate remained mostly below Texas’ and the U.S. rate, averaging four per 100,000. But, in 2021 and 2022, Austin outstripped Texas’ and U.S. rates, averaging 8.3 homicides per 100,000 in 2021 and 7.1 in 2022, according to the NICJR analysis.

The report said 142 homicides were studied in Austin for 2021 and 2022, excluding officer-involved shootings, accidental self-inflictions and cases of justified self-defense. NICJR said its goal was to study the circumstances of the events, understand the characteristics of individuals involved and show the networks associated with the highest risk of violence.

NICJR said the analysis shows a common understanding of local violence that can help with policy decisions, interventions for those at most risk, and inform local leaders and criminal justice policymakers to reduce Austin gun violence.

Victims and suspects of homicides

According to the report, victims and suspects in homicide events were mostly males between the ages of 18 and 34. Almost 54% of victims and suspects were white, nearly 43% were Black, and about 32% were Hispanic.

NICJR emphasizes in the compared representation of population overall, “Black individuals are overwhelmingly overrepresented as homicide victims and suspects by a factor of 5.4.”

About 63% of homicide victims and suspects were involved in the criminal justice system before the incident, according to the report. At least 54% had prior felony convictions, 34% were previously incarcerated, and 33% had prior probation.

“Overall, most victims and suspects with prior criminal offenses had been arrested about 11 times for about 12 different offenses by the time of the homicide,” the report emphasized.

The NICJR said nearly 50% of circumstances leading to the homicide events where a combination of instant disputes (those happening suddenly between strangers) at 20.4%, personal disputes at 16.9%, and domestic disputes at 12.7%.

“While Austin continues to have a relatively low rate of shootings and homicides for a city its size, the significant increase in shooting incidents following the COVID-19 pandemic was alarming," the report concluded. "In the past two years, homicides have declined, but they remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.”