The Racial Involvement among Victims and Perpetrators of Firearm Shootings in the United States: A Business Intelligence (Power BI) Analytics Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67221/vn3a9y89Keywords:
firearm violence, racial disparities, victims, perpetrators, Power BI, Critical Race Theory, structural violence, United States, 2021Abstract
Firearm violence remains a major public health and peacebuilding concern in the United States. Using incident data from the U.S. Government open data portal (data.gov) and national mortality statistics, this study applies an extract–transform–load workflow and interactive dashboards in Microsoft Power BI to describe racial patterns among victims and alleged perpetrators in 2021. Descriptive analytics indicate concentration of both victimisation and perpetration among Black populations in the incident-level dataset, while Asian Pacific Islander and Icelandic categories are the least represented. Perpetrator involvement peaks in the 25–44 age band, followed by 18–24. Interpreted through Critical Race Theory and peace and conflict lenses, the observed patterns are discussed as products of historically structured inequality, spatial segregation, and differential exposure to risk, rather than as products of demographic essentialism. The study illustrates the value of transparent dashboards for evidence-informed policy while noting limits in population adjustment and victim–perpetrator linkage within public datasets.
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