By: LISA R. WILSON

Although FBI data suggests that fatal shootings have leveled off nationwide, the number of young black men and teenagers who either killed or were killed in gun fire has risen at an alarming rate, according to a new study by criminologists at Northeastern University in Boston.

The study finds that last year 426 black males between the ages of 14 and 17 were killed in gun crimes; marking a 40% increase from 2000. In addition, an estimated 964 in the same age group committed fatal shootings in 2007, a 38% increase from seven years earlier.

“Although the overall rate of homicide in the United States remains relatively low, the landscape is quite different for countless Americans living, and some dying, in violence-infested neighborhoods,” said Northeastern criminologist James Alan Fox, who co-authored the study. “There is an urgency for reinvestment in children and families. In essence, we need a bailout for kids at risk.”

The Northeastern study shows the number of young white men who committed gun-related murders has also risen, but not as steep. An estimated 384 white males aged 14 to 17 shot someone to death in 2007, up from 368 in 2000.

The Northeastern study shows that the surge in crimes by young black men and teens may be a result of grant cuts to local police and juvenile crime prevention programs.

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