Earlier this month, a few dozen police officers, school district representatives, and one pro-Trump candidate for Congress crowded together in a room above the cafeteria at Samuel V. Champion High School in Boerne. School was cancelled for the day, but there was activity in the hallways, which was being shown on large TV screens at the front of the room. Viewers opened up their phone cameras in anticipation of the demonstration.
Three drones whirred loudly in a gray metal box in the corner, the fans kicking up enough wind to rustle notebooks. Then, the drones zipped away, down a labyrinth of hallways, toward a mock school shooter.
The technology on display was the product of the Austin-based Campus Guardian Angel, which posits that drones could be the missing piece of this country’s response to school shootings. If a school district buys the tech, drones are placed throughout each campus, ready to fly at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour toward a threat. Once there, the drones can distract the potential shooter, buzzing around like flies, flashing strobe lights and blaring sirens. They can also shoot pepper balls and, if all else fails, ram directly into the person.
