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Warning shot
Intentionally harmless artillery shot with intent to enact direct compliance / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Warning shot (disambiguation).
In military and police contexts, a warning shot is an intentionally harmless artillery shot or gunshot with intent to enact direct compliance and order to a hostile perpetrator or enemy forces. It is recognized as signalling intended confrontations on land, sea, and air.
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As an analogy, a "warning shot" can be used to describe any action of declaration, especially a demonstration of power, intended or perceived as a last warning before hostile measures.