Active Shooter In Jersey City; 2 Gunmen Shooting At Cops, 1 Officer Down

[.455_Hunter]

An actively-occurring shooting without any other details? I remember shooting or shootout. Active shooter frankly seems like the perfect term to describe a presently-occurring event involving some sort of shooting.

Thank you for providing a rational discussion. I think the generic term "shooting" could be used for most every event until the fact are known, especially in the media. What the LEO community uses internally is their business. "Active Shooter" carries too much baggage and political connotation, kinda like "Gun Violence".

[eddiememphis]

Before the term "Active Shooter" entered the current lexicon, how did we describe events such as this?

Well, back in what we call, "the day", there wasn't a term for crimes in progress since there wasn't constant, immediate access to everything that was happening, everywhere.

So we would get home, watch the news and shake our collective heads at the dirtbags killing each other.

To answer your question, we called them murderers.

[ChickNorris]

I remember the term "Standoff" being used more than anything else.

[.455_Hunter]

Well, back in what we call, "the day", there wasn't a term for crimes in progress since there wasn't constant, immediate access to everything that was happening, everywhere.

So we would get home, watch the news and shake our collective heads at the dirtbags killing each other.

To answer your question, we called them murderers.

Doing a little research, term "active shooter" made it's appearance in the current environment in the immediate post-9/11 era. It's use and sensationalization has continued to expand ever since.

[waffles]

Standoff I remember being applied to things like assholes in a house/bank/store vs cops outside. I absolutely do not understand the "active shooter" dislike, if there's a shooting in progress and you don't have the other info (aside from shooting in progress and location) about what happened, do you not report there's something going on? This is really one of the benefits to instant/24hr news, people can be informed of a dangerous situation in real time. Now that details are available, it's widely being described as "shooting" or "shootout".

[.455_Hunter]

Standoff I remember being applied to things like assholes in a house/bank/store vs cops outside. I absolutely do not understand the "active shooter" dislike, if there's a shooting in progress and you don't have the other info (aside from shooting in progress and location) about what happened, do you not report there's something going on? This is really one of the benefits to instant/24hr news, people can be informed of a dangerous situation in real time. Now that details are available, it's widely being described as "shooting" or "shootout".

That's OK. We can disagree. I have similar feelings on the term "wildfire", used both to headline a wind-driven, exponentially growing forest fire and a quarter acre smoky grass fire barely keeping itself burning. To the media, they are exactly the same.

[Gman]

I know some active shooters. I don't get out as much as I'd like to.

RIP to the officer and hope the wounded fully recover.

[ray1970]

I know some active shooters. I don't get out as much as I'd like to.

Yep. I used to be an active shooter but these days it seems I'm more of an inactive shooter.

[MED]

Before the term "Active Shooter" entered the current lexicon, how did we describe events such as this?

Before social media and the chicken little dance, we called it crime.

[buffalobo]

Before the term "Active Shooter" entered the current lexicon, how did we describe events such as this?

Usually reported as shooting in progress.