mass shooting

American  

[mas shoot-ing] / ˈmæs ˈʃut ɪŋ /

noun

1. a single incident involving the shooting with one or more firearms of a number of people, but more than two and typically a large number, especially when the victims are random.

   There's news of a mass shooting at the stadium, with two fatalities and 25 injured.

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Etymology

Origin of mass shooting

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

OpenAI didn’t discover the second until after Van Rootselaar was identified publicly as the suspect in the mass shooting.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman apologized to a Canadian community for failing to alert police about a mass shooting suspect’s conversations with its chatbot.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026

Headed by former High Court Justice Virginia Bell, the inquiry - which started on Tuesday - will also examine the events leading up to the attack, which was Australia's worst mass shooting in decades.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026

Herzog's tightly policed four day visit to Australia this week was meant to offer consolation to the country's Jewish community following December's mass shooting on Bondi beach that killed 15 people.

From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026

The pit was filled with a white-hot mass shooting out little tongues of white flame, and throwing out a heat beside which the scorching sun was a pleasant relief. 

From Modern Mythology by Lang, Andrew