Contagious shooting

A contagious shooting or "mass reflexive response" is "gunfire that spreads among officers who believe that they, or their colleagues, are facing a threat. It spreads like germs, like laughter, or fear."

Incidents

 * 2006 Five officers fired 50 shots at Sean Bell who was unarmed and leaving his bachelor party in New York, including 31 by one detective - who reloaded his weapon during the incident.
 * 2006 Three officers fired 26 shots at a pit bull that had bitten a chunk out of an officer’s leg in the Bronx, New York in July
 * 2005 Eight officers fired 43 shots at Brian Allen, an armed man, in Queens, New York killing him
 * 2005 June, six Los Angeles County, California sheriff's deputies fired more than 50 shots into the car in which drunken driving suspect Carl Williams was driving, after his car rammed a police vehicle following a chase. One deputy had to reload his weapon during the incident.
 * 2004 44-year-old drug suspect Winston Hayes' SUV lurched forward he hit a police car, deputies unloaded their weapons, firing 120 shots. Four bullets ended up hitting Hayes who survived, one hit a deputy sheriff, 11 hit patrol cars and 11 hit five homes in the neighborhood, one of them ended up tearing a hole in a homeowner's hat.
 * 1999 Four officers fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo, an unarmed man in the Bronx, New York on February 4, 1999
 * 1998 New Jersey State Police fired 11 shots at Daniel Reyes and three other basketball players in their car in April

Usage

 * United Press International; November 27, 2006; Police experts have suggested "contagious shooting" may have played a role in a deadly New York incident when five officers fired 50 rounds at a man.
 * Baltimore Sun; May 24, 2006; "If one fires, the rest fire. It is called contagious shooting," Mamet said. "People start shooting; they don't even know why."
 * New York Times; March 26, 1999; "Some law enforcement officials said that it was possible that only one or two of the officers perceived a danger, and that the others opened fire simply because their comrades had begun firing – a phenomenon known in law enforcement circles as contagious shooting."
 * New York Daily News; March 10, 1999; "A lawyer for one of four cops who shot Amadou Diallo hinted yesterday that a phenomenon known as "contagious shooting" — in which a cop's shot sparks a volley from other officers — may have caused his client to fire 16 shots... According to the NYPD patrol guide, contagious shooting occurs when "a shot fired by one officer sets off a chain reaction of shooting by other personnel ... Thomas Reppetto, head of the Citizens Crime Commission, said the term contagious shooting was used during 1960s riots when a cop would fire at what he thought was a sniper and other officers would follow."