On November 17 the Florida Department of Education announced that three school districts, including Broward County Public Schools, would adopt a new statewide initiative designed to deter potential active shooters in K through 12 schools. The program, originally developed in Texas and known as the Campus Guardian Angel program, relies on drones equipped with less than lethal pepper spray rounds, flash bangs, and loud sirens intended to distract and overwhelm a gunman during an attack. The drones are controlled remotely by a team of highly trained pilots operating from a command center in Texas.

Under the system, each school would keep the drones on site in charging pads so they can launch within seconds. Once a panic button is pressed, a drone can be airborne in about fifteen seconds. The company behind the technology describes a step by step escalation process that includes flying into a shooter at speeds of up to sixty miles per hour, which the chief executive Justin Marston compared to being struck with the force of a baseball bat.

Marston demonstrated the technology at Florida Atlantic University earlier this year. He said the goal is simple and urgent. Respond in five seconds, reach the shooter in fifteen seconds, and degrade or incapacitate the attacker within sixty seconds. The idea, he said, is to give students and staff a fighting chance and save lives when every second matters.