Several schools across the US are set to install pepper-spraying drones as part of a new effort to respond to school shooting attacks – a Ukraine war-inspired approach that is bound to put off those who would prefer leaders focus on preventing the violence in the first place.

Campus Guardian Angel of Austin, Texas, which describes itself as a response capability company, is providing the drones in question to multiple schools across the country, including at least four schools in Georgia, three in Florida and one in Colorado.

...do you think they play air guitars every time they say their full company name?

cross-posted from: https://toast.ooo/post/15362117

They can be flown from thousands of miles away and support two-way communication through an embedded speakerphone, allowing the company’s response team to “engage verbally with a threat, or communicate to teachers and school staff”, Campus Guardian Angel’s website stated.

“This allows our team in our ops center to communicate to law enforcement officers verbally with messages such as ‘follow me and I’ll take you to the suspect’ or ‘open the door and we’ll go in to clear the room and tell you what we see,’” the company said.

The drones can remain airborne for about eight minutes on a single battery charge and operate at 900 MHz. According to the company, they can fly through windows that are not coated with ballistic film, using a front lance to break through. They are also equipped with sirens and can drop air poppers that create a loud bang.

Additionally, the drones carry a pepper launcher capable of firing pepper balls at a shooter and can also be used to deliver kinetic energy strikes against a confirmed attacker in an attempt to “greatly degrade or incapacitate” them.

The company said its goal is to “escalate the effects in waves of 3 or 4 drones, keeping the shooter occupied until he/she can be apprehended by authorized responders”.