As schools across the United States continue searching for ways to protect students from mass violence, several campuses will begin testing a new security technology this school year: remotely operated drones designed to confront active shooters before law enforcement arrives.
According to The Washington Post, at least nine schools in Florida, Georgia, and Colorado will participate in pilot programs using drones developed by Austin-based Mithril Defense. The nonlethal aircraft are stored in secure stations throughout school buildings and can be deployed when teachers report a potentially deadly threat.
Teachers can activate the system using a mobile app or classroom panic button. Professional drone pilots then remotely operate the aircraft, which are designed to reach a suspected attacker in approximately 15 seconds. According to The Washington Post, the drones can flash strobe lights, sound loud sirens, spray pepper gel, or strike a suspect at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour in an effort to distract and slow the individual until first responders arrive.
“Once I get the drones on you, you just can’t escape them,” retired Navy SEAL and Mithril Defense co-founder Bill King told The Washington Post.
The technology was inspired in part by the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed before officers entered the classroom. Mithril Defense founder and CEO Justin Marston told The Washington Post that learning how inexpensive drones were being used in modern warfare led him to consider whether a nonlethal version could help reduce casualties during school shootings.
“The first 120 seconds are incredibly critical, because that’s when most of the shooting happens,” Marston said, according to The Washington Post.
Florida has funded a pilot program involving three public high schools, while Georgia lawmakers have approved funding for five schools to test the technology during the upcoming school year. According to The Washington Post, Colorado’s John Adams Academy will finance its own system independently.
Supporters believe the drones could provide valuable protection, particularly in schools that do not have a full-time school resource officer. Georgia state Rep. Matt Dubnik said he believes the technology deserves evaluation in both schools with and without officers present.
“I’m a believer in the technology,” Dubnik told The Washington Post.
Not everyone is convinced the devices belong in schools.
Curtis Lavarello, executive director of the School Safety Advocacy Council, expressed concern that remote operators could mistakenly target fleeing students or responding police officers during the confusion of an emergency.
“It’s almost like where gaming and school safety collide,” Lavarello told The Washington Post. “I have some really serious reservations about the deployment of drones in schools.”
Others argue that schools should focus more heavily on preventing violence before it begins. Jaclyn Corin, a survivor of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and executive director of March for Our Lives, questioned whether limited school resources should prioritize emergency response technology over violence prevention efforts.
“School districts have finite budgets and limited attention,” Corin told The Washington Post. “If we spend significant resources on technologies designed to respond after shooting begins, we have to ask what we’re not investing in instead.”
Florida officials plan to evaluate the pilot program by reviewing response times, tracking violent incidents, and surveying students, parents, and staff about whether the technology improves their sense of safety, according to The Washington Post.
For Catholics, the discussion highlights both the tragedy of persistent school violence and the importance of protecting the dignity of every human life. While new technologies may offer additional tools for emergency response, the Church continues to call for efforts that address the roots of violence, strengthen communities, and safeguard children through both practical protection and a renewed commitment to the culture of life.
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