officer-involved shooting
Cop fires weapon
A bureaucratic euphemism for a shooting in which a police officer fires a weapon, typically at a civilian.
The passive construction avoids specifying who shot whom: The department is investigating an officer-involved shooting could mean the officer shot someone, was shot, or both.
Critics note the phrase obscures police responsibility in ways that "police shooting" or "shot by police" would not.
The term appears primarily in official statements and news reports.
- suicide by copProvoking fatal police response
- deadly forceViolence intended to kill
- use of forcePhysical compulsion to comply
- policeCivil law enforcement
- firearmProjectile weapon using explosives
grand jury · investigation · body camera · body cam footage · qualified immunity · discharge · law enforcement · internal affairs · forensic analysis · moral injury · public trust · gunshot · no-knock warrant · survivor guilt · community activism · accountability · social justice · racial inequality
officer-involved shootinggang shooting
Firearm attack by organized group
mass shooting · drive-by shooting · school shooting · murder · homicide
officer, officers, office, offices, official, officials, officially, unofficial, unofficially