A groundbreaking security system unveiled in Austin could revolutionize school safety by deploying specialized drones to rapidly respond to active shooter incidents. The Campus Guardian Angel program demonstrated its capabilities on Sunday at the former Pease Elementary School.
The system features high-tech drones strategically located at individual school campuses but controlled remotely from a central operations hub in Austin. These drones are designed with multiple intervention capabilities, including breaking through windows, deploying non-lethal deterrents like flash-bang devices and pepper spray launchers, or physically impacting an assailant to impede their movement.
“We’re using drones as part of a first response with law enforcement to get to a shooter faster and be able to stop them from killing kids,” explained Justin Marston, co-founder and CEO of the company.
The technology integrates with digital mapping of school layouts to enhance navigation precision. According to the developers, their goal is to achieve a five-second response time, reach the threat within 15 seconds, and neutralize or significantly inhibit the danger within one minute.
Bill King, a co-founder with 32 years of Navy SEAL experience, drew parallels to military operations: “We’re doing predator drone strikes where we were controlling things from thousands of miles away, similar to what we’re going to do here.”
The developers cited inspiration from drone applications in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, emphasizing the critical importance of rapid intervention during the initial moments of an active shooter situation.
“This is the only way to take less lethal effects and go up against someone with a lethal weapon. You can’t do that with a human,” King added, highlighting the system’s potential to reduce risk to human responders while providing swift intervention.
Stay tuned for further updates on this story and other technology developments.
