Fatal Edged-Weapon Encounters with Police, United States, 2015–2024: Research Dataset, Snapshot S-20261002

Edged-Weapon Fatal Encounters Dataset (2015–2024) De-identified case-level data for 1,970 fatal encounters between police and subjects armed with edged weapons in the United States. Produced by the Edged-Weapon Response Lab (EWRL) from snapshot S-20261002 (captured 2026-10-02). Scope & Included Attributes Incident Characteristics: Key contextual details surrounding the fatal encounter. Decedent Demographics: De-identified demographic profiles of the subjects. Officer Roster & Agency Involvement: Information regarding responding personnel and participating law enforcement agencies. Adjudication Outcomes: Tracking and final dispositions of subsequent investigations or legal findings. Data Privacy & ExclusionsTo protect privacy and preserve legal de-identification standards, the following attributes are strictly excluded: personal names, external database identifiers, exact calendar dates, and sub-county geographic identifiers. Access & Availability Case-Level Data: Access to the full microdata is restricted to researchers requiring verification data to replicate or extend published EWRL findings. Aggregate Data: Summary metrics, trend charts, and aggregate counts are available without restriction at https://droptheknife.org.