Age 14 Starts a Child's Increased Risk of Major Knife or Gun Injury in Washington, DC

This retrospective review of eight years of trauma registry data at an inner-city level-1 trauma center was undertaken to discover at what age urban children start to become at high risk of being victims of either a major gunshot wound or stabbing. We reviewed data from 2,191 patients who were the victim of either a gunshot wound or stabbing, were 18 years of age or under, and met pre-established criteria to qualify as a major trauma victim. There was a rise and subsequent fall in both overall crime and intentional injury rates during the eight-year period. Nevertheless, in each of the eight years studied, the risk of being a victim of a major gunshot wound or stabbing rose abruptly at age 14 (p<0.01) and the incidence continued to rise sharply through age 18.