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How likely are you to be attacked by a stranger?

Two fatal stabbings in Philadelphia over the past week have put a spotlight on a relatively rare type of homicide: Those allegedly committed by strangers.

Two fatal stabbings in Philadelphia over the past week have put a spotlight on a relatively rare type of homicide: Those allegedly committed by strangers.

Between 21 and 27 percent of homicides between 1993 and 2008 for which the victim-offender relationship was known were committed by strangers, according to a report on stranger victimization by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Stranger slayings have been in the in recent days in Philadelphia, however, after a man stabbed three people, killing one, in Southwest Philadelphia last week and another man was stabbed to death near Rittenhouse Square over the weekend.

The victims in both incidents did not previously know their attackers, according to police.

That's a relatively rare occurrence. In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, just 1,381 of the 11,961 homicides nationwide reported to the FBI - about 11.5 percent - were committed by strangers.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics figures show that men, young adults and people in urban areas are most likely to experience victimization by strangers.

Most violent crimes in which the suspect and victim don't know each other are committed in public areas, such as commercial places, streets, or public transportation, according to the bureau's data.

That was the case in both recent Philadelphia killings.

In the Southwest Philadelphia case, Nathan Ackison and two others were stabbed last Tuesday in and near a Baltimore Avenue cellphone store by a man who police said was high on drugs.

Then, early Sunday morning, Colin McGovern was stabbed to death during an argument with the suspect, 40-year-old Steven E. Simminger, over Simminger's New Jersey Devils cap, police said.

The federal study found that an argument over something other than money was the most common cause of stranger homicides, accounting for nearly 24 percent of such cases between 2005 and 2008.

About 21 percent of stranger homicides during that time period were committed under circumstances unknown to police, while robbery was the other chief leading circumstance, making up 19.3 percent of killings.

For nonfatal violence, about 39 percent of robberies, rapes and assaults reported between 2005 and 2010 were committed by strangers, according to BJS data.