Guild Wars 2

1. Any time I switch to Air Attunement, any nearby enemy will be struck by lightning, whether or not I have targeted that enemy.
2. Any time I approach any enemy while “in combat” with Air Attunement, that enemy will be targeted for Arc Lightning, whether or not I have previously targeted that enemy.

These problems result in unwanted combat initiation with high frequency and distressing outcomes.

It has to do with a trait you might have activated. When switching to air. It is the 15 point one. “Electric Discharge”. Instead of attacking the target it does more of an area around you.

1. This happens when you have auto-target enabled. Switching to Air (and thus shooting lighting) is considered as going into combat, which automatically targets an enemy.
2. Also related to the auto-target option, by having this enabled, even when a mob is out-of-range for the original attack, you are still targetting it and you went into combat. When you go within range, you will attack this.

To prevent this;
Option #1 = Disable the auto-target option in the main options tab (F11)
Option #2 = After switching to air, press escape to remove the target and cancel he auto-attack

PS. This is not a bug at all :/