active shooter

English

Etymology

The sense “individual engaged in a shooting spree” was popularized in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre (1999).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæk.tɪv ˈʃuːtɚ/

Noun

active shooter (plural active shooters)

1. (US, military, law enforcement) An individual actively engaged in a shooting spree. [from ca. 2000]

   In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

   • 1999 April 28, Timothy Egan, quoting Larry Glick, “School Attack May Bring Changes in Police Tactics”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “When you have an active shooter going after people at random—a shooter with a plan,” he said, “that's completely different than your typical barricade hostage situation.”

   • 2021 May 5, Jacey Fortin, “What Does ‘Active Shooter’ Really Mean?”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Today, the sound of gunshots often prompts “active shooter” warnings on social media, whether or not the event fits the F.B.I.’s definition of the term. In many cases, reports of active shooters have turned out to be false.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see active,‎ shooter.
   • 1962, Police, page 33:

     Although I had been an active shooter since I was thirteen as a young twenty-five year old^[sic] police officer I was convinced by a Coast Guard firearms instructor to abstain from shooting a live round for six months in order to rid myself of a badly reconditioned motor response.

   • 1967 July 10, U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, “Federal Firearms Act”, in Hearings, page 320:

     First there is the active shooter who is highly interested in either competition or hunting.

   • 1986, Desmos of Delta Sigma Delta, page 27:

     Today Howard is still an active shooter and still enjoys hunting the local game.

See also

• mass shooting