Crime & Safety

4 Poway Suicides Reported in 2012; Firearm Used Twice

There were a record number of suicides in San Diego County last year.

Two people are reported to have used a firearm to kill themselves in Poway last year, the most common suicide method in San Diego County. 

In all, four people in Poway committed suicide in 2012, a small portion of the 413 county suicides that gave the region its highest rate since 1997, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's annual report released last week and data requested by Patch.

Of the 413 who took their own lives in San Diego County last year, 148 used a firearm.

The county's suicide rate has risen for three years in a row after dropping in 2010. Now the rate stands at 13.1 suicides per 100,000 people, the highest rate since 1997.

The 413 deaths are described as an all-time high in the report, which includes data back to 1988.

Suicide in 2012 By the Numbers

  • 69: The number of men ages 45-54 who killed themselves, the most in a single age/sex group.
  • 85+: The age of the men's grouping with the highest suicide rate. 
  • 21.2: The rate of suicide among white people, the highest of any ethnicity.
  • 7.9: The annual average rate of suicide per 100,000 people in Poway between 2002-2012.


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