Three fathers killed their families this week as domestic violence deaths remain high [View all]

In the first two days of June, authorities said, three fathers killed their children and the mothers who raised them. Two used guns. One used a knife. Of the thirteen victims, the youngest was three.

Officials cast the mass killings in Iowa, New York and Florida as “an act of evil,” “the worst of the worst,” and “an unimaginable tragedy,” but Doreen Dodgen-Magee thought of another word: preventable.

For the past three decades, the 60-year-old psychologist has campaigned to prevent domestic violence by telling the story about the day her brother-in-law shot his wife and three daughters. In her view, the country hasn’t done nearly enough to curb what she calls a public health crisis.

Since a pandemic spike, homicides of all kinds have plummeted — except for domestic violence deaths. They have stayed persistently high, The Washington Post found. Attacks in which someone kills four or more relatives have risen this year from a 20-year low, with more incidents in the first half of 2026 than all of last year, according to data from Northeastern University.

https://wapo.st/4g4tKtb