active shooter
noun
plural active shooters
: a person who is illegally using a firearm to kill or try to kill people especially in a public place : a person who is shooting at people
Stunned shoppers and mall employees initially mistook the sound of glass breaking for gunshots, leading to false rumors of an active shooter.—
Caitlin Antonios
Caitlin Antoniosactive shooter drills
Examples of active shooter in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hughes alleges that the study defines active shooter incidents differently from the FBI.
—Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Slow-motion footage from active shooter training courses, which is overlaid with bombastic opera and accented with a Ruben Östlund-like comic detachment.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 Nov. 2025
He's known for taking on Second Amendment cases and represented Eli Dicken, a bystander who killed an active shooter in 2022 at the Greenwood Park Mall.
—Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 18 Nov. 2025
One of the primary arguments against banning kids' personal cell phones is that parents want to be able to reach their child if there's an active shooter or emergency; however, Sanborn says that is not what their organization representing school resource officers says is best.
—Kristine Sorensen, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
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Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Slow-motion footage from active shooter training courses, which is overlaid with bombastic opera and accented with a Ruben Östlund-like comic detachment.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 Nov. 2025
He's known for taking on Second Amendment cases and represented Eli Dicken, a bystander who killed an active shooter in 2022 at the Greenwood Park Mall.
—Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 18 Nov. 2025
One of the primary arguments against banning kids' personal cell phones is that parents want to be able to reach their child if there's an active shooter or emergency; however, Sanborn says that is not what their organization representing school resource officers says is best.
—Kristine Sorensen, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for active shooter
Cite this Entry
“Active shooter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/active%20shooter. Accessed 26 Nov. 2025.
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