title: Trends in Officer-involved Firearm Deaths in Oklahoma from 2000 to 2015.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to collect data and disseminate trends in officer-involved firearm deaths in Oklahoma from 2000 to 2015. The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) database was searched for civilian decedents with gunshot wounds inflicted by law enforcement officers and officer decedents with gunshot wounds inflicted by civilians. Five decedents were law enforcement officers, while 274 decedents were civilians. The number of civilian decedents throughout the study followed a quadratic trend. Civilian decedents were most commonly males (95%) between the ages of 20 and 39 (64%), had one or two gunshot wounds (46%), and had an increasing number of gunshot wounds over time. Postmortem toxicology testing most commonly detected ethanol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and PCP. Efforts toward increased tracking by various agencies and more scientific studies like this are needed to facilitate future analysis of trends in officer-involved firearm deaths.
authors.affiliation: Eastern Division, Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 1115 W 17th Street, Tulsa, OK, 74107.
authors.forename: Kyla M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Jorgenson
authors.affiliation: Eastern Division, Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 1115 W 17th Street, Tulsa, OK, 74107.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Wiens
authors.affiliation: Central Division, Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 901 N Stonewall, Oklahoma, OK, 73117.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.affiliation: Eastern Division, Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 1115 W 17th Street, Tulsa, OK, 74107.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lanter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000032:analysis; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000032:analysis; D009825:Oklahoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D016495:Police / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D009294:Narcotics; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: firearm; forensic pathology; forensic science; gunshot wounds; homicide; officer-involved shooting