Three US states to deploy 60mph drones armed with pepper spray to neutralize school shooters — ‘Campus Guardian Angel’ drones can also smash windows and ram attackers

The drone arms race is set to enter U.S. schools with Mithril Defense's Campus Guardian Angel drones in at least nine schools across three states before the year is out. The Washington Post reports that the pilot program will be tested in Florida, Georgia, and Colorado schools with and without resource officers on campus. Securely siloed drones will be situated in key areas around campus, triggered by teachers via app or panic button, then fly to combat gun-toting attackers with a mix of strobes, sirens, pepper spray, and a 60 mph attacker-ramming capability.

If this is a successful initiative, it could go some way to lift the terrible specter of gun violence overshadowing U.S. students. The Washington Post notes that since Columbine in 1999, almost 400,000 students have experienced gun violence at school.

The Campus Guardian Angel drone rollout will be quite expensive. For example, the five schools in Georgia set to adopt drone defense will get $500,000 in backing to run the pilot program. However, politicians and legislators in that state appear to have passed the budget with ease.

This is how the Campus Guardian Angel drone system is designed to work:

• Drones are sited at secure locations around the campus,
• A teacher will trigger the drone deployment using an app or panic button,
• Remote pilots take control and distract, deter, and disable aggressors using a mix of strobes, sirens, pepper gel, and 60mph impacts,
• Drone system reaction speed is crucial.

Mithril Defense says that the Campus Guardian Angel drones can react and reach a shooter as quickly as 15 seconds. Justin Marston, Mithril's founder and CEO, made a few other bold claims regarding his drone system's reaction speed. For example, Marston said a drone like the Guardian Angel might've saved lives in Uvalde.' That's a direct reference to the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were killed in 2022.

The drone defense firm's CEO underlined that the first 120 seconds are incredibly critical, because that's when most of the shooting happens." That implies that he thinks Campus Guardian Angel drones could be successfully deployed within that very narrow time window. But Uvalde was quite unusual, as responding law enforcement seemed paralyzed, waiting over an hour to enter the classroom.

These school-based drone systems are not without their critics. Some say that the funds may be better spent on prevention than cure. Even Mithril's founder and CEO's opinion seems to be that if these drones aren't prompted into action within two minutes, they aren't living up to their promise.

There is also the concern that drones could misidentify students or protection officers when controllers are under pressure. Others say that military-style drone systems aren't appropriate for schools, and will cost a lot more than simple measures and routines regarding locked doors.

With the three states proceeding with pilot programs this year, we may see the true value and capabilities of the Campus Guardian Angel drones. If these drone-protected schools don't suffer any terrible shooting incidents, then it may be claimed that the drones are at least a deterrent.