Several schools in the United States are preparing to deploy pepper-spray-equipped drones designed to respond rapidly to active shooter incidents, as educators explore new technologies to improve campus safety.
The drones, developed by Texas-based company Campus Guardian Angel, are designed to launch automatically when staff activate an emergency alert.
According to the company, the drones can reach a suspected attacker in as little as 15 seconds, using flashing lights, loud sirens and pepper spray to distract and slow the individual until law enforcement officers arrive.
The aircraft are also capable of flying at speeds of up to 50mph (80km/h) and can ram into a suspect if necessary. Operators can control the drones remotely from thousands of kilometres away while communicating through an onboard speaker system.
Campus Guardian Angel said its response strategy involves deploying several waves of drones to keep an attacker occupied until authorities can safely intervene.
The company said each drone has a flight time of around eight minutes on a single battery charge.
The technology is expected to be introduced at several schools, including four in Georgia, three in Florida and one in Colorado.
Co-founder Bill King said the idea was inspired by the increasing use of small drones during the war in Ukraine and how similar technology could be adapted to help respond to school shootings in the United States.
The company believes the drones could provide law enforcement with valuable time during the critical first moments of an emergency.
However, the technology has also drawn criticism from some school safety advocates.
Tony Montalto, whose daughter was among the 17 victims killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, questioned whether the drones addressed the root cause of school violence.
He argued that greater emphasis should be placed on preventing attacks rather than responding after they have already begun.
The introduction of the drones comes as schools across the United States continue exploring new security measures in response to recurring concerns over campus shootings.
