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

active shooter drills

Examples of active shooter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Moviegoers were ushered out of a downtown Boise theater Saturday night following reports of an active shooter. — Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 3 Aug. 2026

Police in Idaho confirmed there are fatalities and injuries after the report of an active shooter near an In-N-Out Burger location in Twin Falls on Saturday. — Vanessa Navarrete, ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026

Mithril Defense is currently designing pepper-spraying drones, inspired by the Ukrainian military’s successful drone program, that the company says can respond to an active shooter within seconds. — Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 31 July 2026

Multiple schools across three states will soon have their own veritable platoons of pepper-spraying drones to hunt down active shooters, The Washington Post reports, waiting to spring into action the moment they’re called on. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 30 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for active shooter

• microcomputer
• minicomputer
• supercomputer
• commuter
• computer
• polluter
• recruiter
• neuter
• pewter
• router
• scooter
• suitor