BOERNE — On an overcast day in Central Texas, drones buzzed through the halls of an otherwise quiet Champion High School. In place of students, who were still on winter break, the school was filled with law enforcement officials — police officers, sheriffs, state troopers, first responders and even federal officials who gathered to take part in emergency response training with a new technology aimed at preventing mass shootings.

In drills led by Campus Guardian Angel, an Austin-based tech company, first responders participated in a hypothetical exercise to stop an active shooter. Remotely piloted drones flew up to 50 mph indoors, scouting for threats, delivering medical supplies to “injured” actors, or distracting and incapacitating a potential shooter. 

The drones can distract with blinding lights and loud sirens, shoot powdered bullets or even fly into a target fast enough to knock a punching dummy to the ground. 

Campus Guardian Angel hopes its drones, if dispatched at the right time, could stop a school shooting before it starts.

The company has demonstrated its technology 25 times across the country, about half at schools in Texas. Two Texas school districts, Boerne ISD and Spring Branch ISD, have indicated they plan to install the drones but are waiting for funds to purchase the system. 

Running the program costs about $8 per student each month, which includes installation of the hardware on campus, a company spokesperson said. 

Texas school districts have begun raising money to install the drones. Parents from Spring Branch ISD, for instance, established a committee to raise $500,000 to launch a pilot program at two campuses. It's unclear if they’ve reached their goal. A spokesperson for the district directed The Texas Tribune to a statement detailing some of its efforts. 

“No district-wide deployment is being proposed at this stage,” the statement says. “The goal is to gather data, evaluate effectiveness, and determine whether the concept has value before any further consideration.”

Campus Guardian Angel’s system is being installed in three schools in Florida and is expected to be live by the end of March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.