DELTONA, Fla. – Deltona High School is now the first school in the nation to test a drone system designed to respond to emergencies — including active shooter situations — directly on campus.
The drones, developed by defense company Campus Guardian Angel, are non-lethal and built to locate and deter a threat within seconds of an alert being triggered. When an emergency is detected, the drones launch from mounted boxes near the ceiling, fly to the scene and immediately begin streaming real-time video to law enforcement.
“If you come around the corner and it’s kind of like a Parkland thing where he’s shooting into classrooms, then we need to do something really quickly where we escalate a lot faster,” said Bill King, chief tactical officer for Campus Guardian Angel.
Rather than waiting for law enforcement or a school resource deputy to reach the scene, school officials say the drones can be on-site within 15 seconds of an alert. Each drone is equipped with sirens, flashing lights and pepper spray — tools designed to distract and deter a threat while help is on the way.
[WATCH: See the emergency-response drones at work at Deltona High School]
“Once you get these three drones on you, the sound, it’s a little unnerving, right? People want to get away from that and may try to attack it and if they’re doing either one of those things, that’s great because they’re not shooting people,” King said.
The system is operated remotely by some of the fastest drone racing operators in the world, based in Austin, Texas. It is also part of a broader, multi-layered security approach that includes AI-powered gun detection technology already in use across Volusia County Schools.
“That gives us a location and a picture of the guy, so if someone takes a gun out of their truck in the parking lot, I’m getting that cue,” King said.
[WATCH: Potential swatting incident targets Volusia County schools with bomb threats]
When installation is complete, Deltona High School will have 39 drones deployed across its campus. The school is the first in Florida to have the system installed and is one of three Florida schools participating in a pilot program. If successful, officials say the program could expand to every school in the state.
Despite the technology’s capabilities, Principal Christina Lapnow says her deepest hope is that the drones are never needed.
“I hope these drones never see the light of day. That’s the ultimate goal — is the drones stay in their nice little boxes and never come out of them,” Lapnow said.