Pilot programs in Florida, Georgia and Colorado will deploy remotely operated drones equipped with strobe lights, sirens and pepper gel as schools consider new ways to respond during the first moments of an attack.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
At least nine schools in Florida, Georgia and Colorado are preparing to deploy remotely operated drones designed to reach and disrupt an active shooter before law enforcement arrives.
The aircraft, developed by Texas-based Campus Guardian Angel, formerly known as Mithril Defense, can be activated through teacher panic buttons or a mobile application and are intended to arrive at a reported threat within approximately 15 seconds, The Washington Post reported.
Three Florida schools, five in Georgia and one in Colorado are participating in pilot programs during the coming school year.
Trained operators control the drones remotely after they are launched. The systems can produce bright strobe lights and loud sirens, spray pepper gel and strike a suspect at speeds approaching 60 mph.
The company says the drones are intended to distract, disorient or incapacitate an attacker during the period before police officers enter the building.
“The first 120 seconds are incredibly critical because that’s when most of the shooting happens,” Campus Guardian Angel CEO Justin Marston told the Post.
Marston said the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, motivated the development of the system.
The company’s operational targets are to launch a drone within five seconds, reach the attacker within 15 seconds and neutralize the threat within one minute.
Campus Guardian Angel uses former Navy SEALs, SWAT officers, emergency responders and professional drone pilots to operate the aircraft.
Florida lawmakers recently approved another $564,500 for the initiative, raising the state’s total investment to more than $1.1 million over two years.
The drones are scheduled for deployment in Volusia, Broward and Leon counties, including at Deltona High School, Boyd H. Anderson High School and Godby High School, according to News4JAX.
Colorado’s John Adams Academy also plans to have the system installed before students return in the fall.
Administrators there said the drones will supplement existing security measures rather than replace them. The school already has armed staff members and hopes to add a school resource officer.
“We’re looking at just any tool that we have in our toolbox that can help us if there were ever a critical incident in school,” Headmaster Sarah Kiesewetter told CBS News.
Supporters say the system could give schools an immediate response option during the most dangerous opening moments of a shooting, when an attacker may be able to inflict substantial harm before police arrive.
The technology has also raised questions about accuracy, accountability and the risks of operating remotely controlled aircraft inside crowded schools during chaotic emergencies.
School safety consultant Curtis Lavarello told the Post that he was concerned an operator could mistakenly target an innocent student or a responding law enforcement officer.
Some Colorado parents have also questioned whether the drones are sufficiently tested for use during a real attack. Others have raised ethical and legal concerns about allowing remotely operated devices to use force inside schools.
The pilot programs will provide the first broader opportunity to evaluate how the system functions in school environments, although the drones have not yet been tested during an actual active-shooter incident.
Georgia schools are pursuing additional drone-based security measures through a separate effort.
Atlanta Public Schools is creating a tactical response unit and a drone unit capable of providing aerial support during emergencies, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
District Police Chief Ronald Applin said the initiative is intended to prepare officers to respond immediately to violent threats while improving safety for students and employees.
The Atlanta program is separate from the Campus Guardian Angel pilot and focuses on supporting district police operations rather than deploying pepper-gel-equipped aircraft through classroom panic systems.
The expanding use of drones reflects a broader search by schools for technology capable of reducing response times during violent emergencies.
Whether the systems become more widely adopted will likely depend on the results of the pilot programs, the development of operating standards and how schools address concerns involving mistaken identification, force, privacy and legal liability.
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