person of interest

Definitions

Someone who police have reason to believe may have a connection to a crime, or to possess important information relating to that crime, but who has not been accused or charged by authorities nor been officially deemed to be a suspect.

Canada, US

Equivalents

Examples

“Tice denies involvement in any conspiracy. . . . Still, Morgan says Tice and "three or four other people" remain⟳ "persons of interest⟳" in the investigation.”

“Abdellatif has been interviewed five times by Australian security services since the dropping of the charges and remains a "person of interest⟳" to the federal police.”

“The 19-year-old man from a Phoenix suburb who was detained on Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is a person of interest⟳, but Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, declined to say⟳ what had led the police to question⟳ the man.”

“The grainy images of what the F.B.I. described as a “person of interest⟳ in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk” show⟳ a man wearing a baseball cap, dark sunglasses and a black long-sleeve shirt with an image on it that appears to include⟳, in part, a picture of the American flag.”

CEFR level