A drive-by shooting (or drive-by) is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving vehicle, often without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target. The objective is to overwhelm the target by a sudden, massive amount of firepower without attention to accuracy. Three of the most famous drive by shootings were the murders of Tupac Shakur on September 13, 1996, and The Notorious B.I.G on March 9, 1997 and The Steve Harvey Show's Merlin Santana on November 9, 2002.
The tactic of drive-by shooting originated when assailants would ride up to their targets on horseback, shoot them with wheellock pistols and then ride off before they could be apprehended. Some of the first gun control laws were developed to combat these shootings.
Famous quotes containing the word shooting:
“One ... aspect of the case for World War II is that while it was still a shooting affair it taught us survivors a great deal about daily living which is valuable to us now that it is, ethically at least, a question of cold weapons and hot words.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)