Newswise —
A researcher from the University of Missouri School of Medicine investigating pediatric firearm assaults discovered that a majority of children who were shot were outdoors for unspecified reasons and were probably not the deliberate targets.
In 2020, firearm injuries surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the foremost cause of child fatalities. Among American children and teenagers, assault has emerged as the prevailing cause of firearm injuries, surpassing accidental firearm injuries and firearm suicide. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research examining the circumstances surrounding these pediatric assaults.
Mary Bernardin, MD, an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine and pediatric emergency medicine, headed a study analyzing instances of firearm injuries in children who were admitted to St. Louis Children's Hospital between 2014 to 2017. The study revealed that 72% of these children suffered gunshot wounds in outdoor settings from an unidentified shooter, with the motive unknown in 93% of cases.
"Former studies frequently depicted juvenile firearm casualties as casualties of interpersonal violence where the victim bears responsibility," stated Bernardin. "This study indicates that in the majority of instances, children who are shot were not the intended objective and the perpetrator and victim are unfamiliar to each other."
Per the study, the prevailing scenario involved an unidentified shooter with an unknown motive firing at the victim in an outdoor setting. The next most frequent depiction was a shooting that occurred while the victim was in a moving vehicle. Children often reported experiencing these incidents while engaged in outdoor pursuits, like returning home from school, playing at the park, or sitting on their front steps.
Less than 15% of the shootings were clearly deliberate assaults, which encompassed altercations or attempted thefts. The shootings in three ZIP codes with high risk incidents in St. Louis City constituted 40% of the total.
Bernardin stated, "Kids living in regions with frequent shootings are experiencing a rising quantity of gun-related injuries and fatalities. To enhance our comprehension of the causes and mechanisms behind these incidents and to inform effective public policy measures, we must delve into the reasons and methods of these shootings. Generally, children become victims due to their neighborhood's underlying circumstances rather than their own conduct."
rewrite with the same word length: “Child firearms injury circumstances and associations with violence intervention program enrollment” was recently published by the Journal of Surgical Research. In addition to Bernardin, the study co-authors included researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. This study follows earlier research led by Bernardin finding that surges in COVID-19 infection rates were associated with an increase in the frequency and mortality of pediatric firearm injuries.
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