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
Four fathers are being praised as heroes after apprehending an active shooter at an East Texas high school band competition over the weekend.
—Alexis Simmerman, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2025
Jeffrey Mathes, officer Rex Engelbert and detectives Michael Collazo, Ryan Cagle, and Zachary Plese for taking down an active shooter at The Covenant School, an elementary school in Nashville, Tenn., in March 2023.
—Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 3 Jan. 2025
While the public often thinks of mass shootings as active shooter events in public places like schools, those are a small subset of such shootings, which can also include domestic and drive-by attacks.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 18 Dec. 2024
School Shooting Were Student and Teacher; 2 Students Have 'Life-Threatening Injuries'
Police responded to an active shooter call at the school just before 11 a.m. Monday, Barnes said at an earlier press conference.
—Kc Baker, People.com, 17 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for active shooter 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Alexis Simmerman, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2025
Jeffrey Mathes, officer Rex Engelbert and detectives Michael Collazo, Ryan Cagle, and Zachary Plese for taking down an active shooter at The Covenant School, an elementary school in Nashville, Tenn., in March 2023.
—Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 3 Jan. 2025
While the public often thinks of mass shootings as active shooter events in public places like schools, those are a small subset of such shootings, which can also include domestic and drive-by attacks.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 18 Dec. 2024
School Shooting Were Student and Teacher; 2 Students Have 'Life-Threatening Injuries'
Police responded to an active shooter call at the school just before 11 a.m. Monday, Barnes said at an earlier press conference.
—Kc Baker, People.com, 17 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for active shooter
Dictionary Entries Near active shooter
Cite this Entry
“Active shooter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/active%20shooter. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share