random shooting
Unpredictable violent attack
Random shooting describes gunfire directed at victims chosen without specific targeting—strangers in public spaces, passing vehicles, or buildings.
The randomness refers to victim selection, not the shooter's intent: Police believe this was a random shooting, not a targeted attack.
The term often appears in news coverage of mass shootings and drive-by incidents where perpetrators had no prior connection to those harmed.
- gunfireDischarge of weapons
- violenceHarmful physical force
- gun violenceHarm inflicted using firearms
- rampageViolent, destructive outburst
- indiscriminateLacking selective judgment
chaos · victims · innocent bystanders · terror · spree · bullets · tragedy · senseless · gunman · attack · panic · screams · fleeing · casualties · carnage · mayhem · stray · unprovoked
- stranger crimesmugging, street robbery, street crime, carjacking, purse snatching
- violenceviolence, physical attack, brutality, physical violence, aggression
random shootingtargeted killing
Deliberate state lethal force
contract killing · hit · political assassination · sniper attack · execution
random, randomly, randomness, randomize, randomized, randomization, shoot, shooting, shot