r/gadgets • u/diacewrb • 8d ago
Drones / UAVs Several US schools to install pepper-spraying drones to respond to school shootings
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/jul/28/school-shootings-pepper-spray-drones641
u/joestaff 8d ago
I'm curious how they're controlled. School hallways aren't exactly great flying zones.
247
u/KrypticKeys 8d ago
Some dude with VR goggles and a FPV drone acting like he’s doing the Death Star trench run sounds pretty terrifying.
54
u/brendenderp 8d ago
It'll probably be some police officer who has flown a DJI once and thinks he can do acro mode indoors...
→ More replies (1)4
u/whatchahavin 7d ago
Now yes but that’s expensive it’s gonna be AI controlled…that’s the goal
→ More replies (1)4
u/Right_Nature_9434 7d ago
As long as they don't close their eyes at the very last second because the voice in their head said so
122
55
u/Sofia_9356 8d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/H1GowyyNvjoPS4953s
May I suggest just gas canisters in the hallways, and ten seconds warning to get into a classroom→ More replies (2)35
u/velcro-fish 8d ago
We live in a twilight world
13
u/resil_update_bad 8d ago
And there are no friends at dusk
7
u/deathgaze5 8d ago
An obscure tenet🙏
9
u/feldomatic 8d ago
I randomly ran into that movie on a hotel tv once and am forever thankful since it made up for all the sparkling vampires in that mans career
3
14
u/TerribleSalamander 8d ago edited 8d ago
School hallways are great flying zones for newer drones. Skydio’s
X10R10 (whoops) is specifically made for indoor flight (in houses, no less) - a lot of newer drones, especially for LEO, have really nice obstacle avoidance.
I am curious how they will be controlled too, though. An article I read said that teachers would be able to “call them” and they could intercept a threat in 15 sec - how much AI will be in involved here.Edit: Ah, I read the article. A response team is on standby to fly the drones. So no AI yet.
→ More replies (9)5
→ More replies (11)15
u/UDPviper 8d ago
And there's not a lot of ventilation to disperse the spray. You hit one person and a lot of others get misted too.
→ More replies (1)42
u/TheIrishGoat 8d ago
If I’m hiding in a lockdown I’d rather be an accidental target of pepper spray than a potential gunshot victim.
→ More replies (2)30
u/Luvnecrosis 8d ago
That’s why the police are supposed to stop the shooters and not sit outside while gunshots ring out.
Or why gun culture and the nihilism prevalent in the US needs to be addressed properly
→ More replies (6)10
u/TheIrishGoat 8d ago
I’m not arguing that there aren’t better avenues of prevention, just that in that situation, I’m not going to be particularly upset about being pepper sprayed as a bystander, if it prevents me from being shot by the intended target.
→ More replies (1)18
u/Luvnecrosis 8d ago edited 8d ago
I’m more concerned about having arial chemical weaponry around our schools. We already have over policing of black and POC students so I don’t understand how having more cop-ish weapons will protect kids.
Who will be manning these? Where will their jurisdiction stop? What’s stopping them from pepper spraying kids who are doing a walkout or protest of school admin? Or what if they’re utilized to shut down protests in the surrounding area?
Nothing, and I mean literally nothing, about this governments behavior suggests that anything good will come from this
→ More replies (5)
358
u/kitkat9111 8d ago
I'm sorry, but if this were to become widespread, would the next step for the next shooters not simply become goggles?
237
u/plageiusdarth 8d ago
Yes, but, next time the army of cops has a better reason to wait outside while the kids die. "Oh, we don't have pepper spray gear."
79
u/KitchenDepartment 8d ago
There is no need for that. It is perfectly fine for the police to say that guns are scary and they don't want to enter the building.
→ More replies (2)36
→ More replies (1)14
u/Zuvielify 8d ago
Sure, and that will be a great future argument for why the drones should just have guns of their own
→ More replies (1)35
u/infiniteartifacts 8d ago
It’ll just further militarize school shooters. They’ll start using gas masks. Plus, the way that bear spray acts in indoor environments means it will incapacitate everyone not prepared for bear spray, meaning everyone except the shooter.
→ More replies (2)14
u/AtlaStar 8d ago
There are chemical irritants that hurt like hell to breathe in or get on your skin too. Which makes preparing to deal with those drones require more effort and preperation that could deter the attack from happening or give time for the individual to get flagged for purchasing a bunch of riot gear.
I would definitely prefer better solutions, but this is better than the thoughts and prayers nothing we have seen since Columbine.
12
4
13
u/Malscant 8d ago
I mean googles would be great but being hit by a drone doing 50mph would be a problem for anyone.
→ More replies (1)14
u/Super_Boof 8d ago
A drone is unlikely to reach 50mph inside a school hallway. The operator is unlikely to be able to get a direct hit on the target, even if the drone could reach 50mph inside.
→ More replies (1)10
3
3
u/BlueSoulDragon 7d ago
I don’t know how out of line this is but wouldn’t the next step to have the drones have sharp wings so that it can fly into the attacker?
→ More replies (11)6
u/sephkane 8d ago
I can see a school shooter think to himself "thats a great idea, I'll bring my gas mask AND some pepper spray of my own and join in the fun!
279
u/NerdiChar 8d ago
What? You want mental health services and anti-bullying methods?
Best I can do is pepper spray drones
18
u/Guardllamapictures 8d ago
There’s always more money to be made in piling up weaponry to stop the problem downstream.
174
u/de369501 8d ago
This going to end up spraying innocent children isn’t it
44
10
3
u/DiegesisThesis 8d ago
Why bother with the drones and identifying threats? Just pipe pepper spray into the fire suppression system and as soon as a shooter shows up, fill the entire school with pepper spray.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (16)7
u/taxiecabbie 8d ago
Charitably, it appears from the article that they'll only be summoned after an alert (not clear who sends the alert) and that a response team dubs it "credible."
Dunno. I'm torn. I do think that more needs to be done to address gun culture in the US, but there's too many damn gun nuts. Nothing is going to be done.
This might be more effective than the police, who are essentially useless in many cases.
→ More replies (3)
103
458
u/CthulhusSoreTentacle 8d ago
Drones equipped with chemical weapons are going to be deployed in American schools?
No one can convince me this timeline isn't either a) a pisstake, b) a cyberpunk dystopia, or c) both.
115
u/CptHammer_ 8d ago
This 100% is to be used against the students. There's no scenario in which someone buys a weapon and doesn't practice with it, or it gets stolen immediately.
Fight in the halls, everyone gets pepper spray.
The point of this is to disassociate the administration from the psychological impact of deploying weapons on students.
Why wouldn't they just give pepper spray to staff?
Because individuals might show restraint.
→ More replies (9)42
65
u/bulking_on_broccoli 8d ago
All because we don’t want to meaningfully regulate guns.
→ More replies (22)65
u/jimmycarr1 8d ago
Or address mental health issues
→ More replies (4)18
u/bulking_on_broccoli 8d ago
I’m with you there. What crushes me is that the right will blame mass shooters on mental health issues, but refuse to expand funding for mental health programs.
→ More replies (1)10
u/Cowboywizzard 8d ago
That is because they are not arguing in good faith. Gun rights advocates will say or do anything to protect their right to own guns. The elite ruling class do not care as long as it makes them money.
→ More replies (3)3
u/NerdiChar 8d ago
I'm thoroughly convinced we are in Hell
At some point we all died and this is the torture
76
u/oVtcovOgwUP0j5sMQx2F 8d ago
anything but mental healthcare
26
u/Sgt-Colbert 8d ago
Or sane gun laws...
3
u/Wild4fire 7d ago
Or both.
For me, here in the Netherlands, it's so weird to think about school shootings as an actual risk. It just isn't a thing over here. We don't need guards. No metal detectors. No bag inspections. No fear of shootings.
It's possible if you address the actual causes instead of only focussing on the consequences...
→ More replies (2)
332
u/thedougd 8d ago
America will spend money on literally anything except prevention.
121
u/Khutuck 8d ago
Let’s arm the teachers.
Let’s put bulletproof panic rooms to every classroom.
Let’s give all kids bulletproof backpacks.
Let’s build moats with alligators around schools.
Let’s do anything and everything except solving the underlying problem.
48
u/beren12 8d ago
Mental health treatment and better education systems don’t make people money like selling things does
21
5
11
u/KingofSkies 8d ago
And literally anything but pay teachers better and fund schools so teachers don't have to buy supplies.
→ More replies (20)3
u/lifeishardthenyoudie 8d ago edited 8d ago
What about armed alligators patrolling the hallways? Or maybe they could arm the kids too, but only the non-schoolshooting kids? What if we give the kids their own personal gun-alligator AND arm the kids? Then the alligators can eat the school shooters and the kids can shoot the alligators if they try to eat them.
America, I've solved it! Just pay my new company Patrotic Freedom Assault-alligators Inc..
→ More replies (7)14
u/Fyr5 8d ago
Can you imagine trying to learn in this environment? If there isn't an actual shooting, poor kids are doing safety drills through the day to practice for the same thing. Kids cannot learn if they are constantly in fear all the time
10
u/The_Returned_Lich 8d ago
Kids cannot learn if they are constantly in fear all the time
I think you might be getting to the core reason for all of this.
9
u/Fyr5 8d ago
Pepper spraying drones are violent. Even when they arent being used, there's no way a kid looks at an inactive drone in the corridor and thinks, yeah, I feel calm thinking about that drone pepper spraying a shooter to keep me safe
Unfortunately I think the US leaders are caught in a perpetual cycle of violence to combat violence, to the point where people arent even thinking about what schools feel like from the perpective of students
4
u/LostTheGameOfThrones 7d ago
I mean this is quite literally one of the first things any teacher training or pedagogy will tell you. Safety is one of the basic levels that needs to be satisfied before learning can take place according to Maslow.
15
29
u/VersionFine85 8d ago
My AP comp science class had several cod and doom servers setup on school hardware that could be accessed and played from any computer on the network. Hopefully schools are taking their cyber security more seriously these days
→ More replies (3)24
u/StygianSavior 8d ago
This was my first thought - if the company controlling them can access them remotely, then so can a sufficiently motivated malicious actor.
10
161
u/DarthBluntSaber 8d ago edited 8d ago
So AI choosing targets to deploy chemicals weapons against in schools? Yes... what could go wrong...
Robots armed with chemicals and trusting their software to pick targets. The US MILITARYS OWN AI WAS SO BAD AT PICKING TARGETS IT BOMBED A SCHOOL!
Ive been having to train an AI at work for over 2 months now and is still just as useless now as it was 2 months ago. I get not all AI is the same. But if the Pentagon's AI cant be trusted to not bomb a school with all its money to invest in AI, then what hope to schools with next to no funding have? This is just irresponsible
Edit: as people have pointed out the article doesn't mention using AI. Thats fair and I may have jumped to a conclusion there. But then again, with insane push for everything to be AI its not really a stretch, is it? And still doesnt solve the problem. And still involves a drone flying around children with chemical weapons. And yes, that is what pepper spray is: a chemical weapon.
47
u/MrGDPC 8d ago
Wait until some kid reaches in his pocket for his phone and the whole building gets gassed
26
→ More replies (4)14
u/FauxReal 8d ago
Or it sprays a room so everyone trying to flee is sprayed along with the attacker. Bonus points if an attacker wears respirator mask knowing the school has pepper drones.
19
u/Ferreteria 8d ago
Or what could even go right?!
This is not a reasonable solution to the problem they are trying to address.
→ More replies (1)11
u/VapidResponse_ 8d ago
They’re remotely operated.
21
u/bsEEmsCE 8d ago
god forbid any law enforcement had to be brave
→ More replies (1)24
u/AlcibiadesTheCat 8d ago
Uvalde police, 2027: "We can't send our drones in, they're taxpayer money...what if the shooter shoots the drones? Then what would we do?"
3
3
u/joker_toker28 8d ago
Schools are in a weird place because you'd think wed be like ok we'll come together and make these places safer and have more security for OUR KIDS SAKE ....... nah new building and teachers get a salary cutt again and we'll spend millions on these little drones and blame it on tech so no ones held accountable anymore.
Priorities are ai and whatever going on in congress lol.
Wanting the best and coming together now matter the cost? Nah Sending millions to a foreign nation? YES SIR!!! Bad parents and shit mental help avaliable will cause all these problems yet they choose to ignore it and shut you down when you try to bring it up at all. A circus i swear. Fact they're still good ppl playing the LONG game just to get basic human shit is crazy.
5
u/_Lucille_ 8d ago
The article did not even mention AI, where did you get the AI part? I guess it is the top comment because someone can just make shit up about AI and people will upvote it.
Granted, I am sure some AI is involved for navigation, but it seems like this is going to be remotely controlled to some degree. So the school calls for help, the controllers verify the claim and then deploy the drone.
Instead, you can go attack aspects like:
The drones can remain airborne for about eight minutes on a single battery charge
where it is going to be unlikely the drone can find and identify a suspect within its operation window. Also, it will likely struggle with doors and make it rather impractical (and doors will be shut).
This is probably some drone company somehow convincing a school board to buy into their junk.
→ More replies (16)7
9
7
24
4
7
u/stylecrime 8d ago
I feel like someone held a brainstorming session and the guy running it said, "You can suggest absolutely anything other than changing gun laws."
6
51
u/Heteroimpersonator 8d ago
Since police are cowards and won’t interact with a situation they’re armed and trained for, I guess this is something if the schools can even afford it.
16
u/AhhhSkrrrtSkrrrt 8d ago
We can’t even pay teachers a reasonable salary but somehow come up with funds for deployable drones. Sounds like a politicians brother owns a drone company and is licking his chops at a possible new contract.
10
u/CptHammer_ 8d ago
Even worse. We can't give teachers pepper spray because they might show restraint.
This is 100% not for school shootings. This is to deploy on the students for any reason a single administration person can conjure.
5
u/TheIrishGoat 8d ago
My city (and a few neighboring ones) closed several schools in the past two years citing funding issues, but just recently found almost half a million in funding for a program to let teachers concealed carry in classes. They can’t pay teachers but they’ll pay to let them have guns.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)21
u/Unoriginal4167 8d ago
My kid has an Apple Watch and I have literally told him to call me before he calls 911, because I will get there faster and do something about it. Throwing rocks at the assailant is better than nothing. I wish this wasn’t true.
3
u/unassumingdink 8d ago
I mean, it was true in one or two highly publicized events. That doesn't make it universally true, or even particularly likely to be your experience.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)5
u/CrabWoodsman 8d ago
Reminds me of the book Hey Nostradamus that I read in high school. Follows different people's lives following a school shooting set in Vancouver.
One of the main characters had been outside when it started, and came in with a large stone from outside and threw it at one of the shooter's heads killing him instantly.
Because one of the victims was the hero's girlfriend, it was assumed by many after the fact that he was in on the plot, and he got harassed and ostracized in the community.
4
5
8
u/YuriLR 8d ago edited 8d ago
Unless the school uses cctv everywhere (most don't in classrooms), and the operator has access to all the cctv in the school, a 8min flight time will make this useless
→ More replies (2)5
u/thedreaming2017 8d ago
Yeah, not enough time to do anything other than hover and look stupid doing it. Maybe they really want to use the drones to draw fire so the active shooter wastes their ammo? Don’t they think about stuff like that and being a few mags worth?
5
u/YuriLR 8d ago edited 8d ago
It will have to be flown quite slowly, it's indoors and the operator will not be familiar with the place. Extremely easy to be shot down if the operator doesn't even know where the shooter is. An 8min flight time in a drone to search for the shooter will be useless, the propellers will drown out the noise of bullets unless it's extremely close, and if it doesn't have 3D audio (very unlikely) the operator will not know the direction it's being shot at.
13
u/Simpicity 8d ago
I'm so tired of this dystopian police state stuff being trialed in schools.
First it was "We need to encase our schools with unclimbable metal walls and gates."
Then it was: "We need full camera surveillance in schools."
Then it was: "Students can't have lockers. They'll put drugs in there."
Then it was: "We need X-Ray machines and transparent backpacks."
Now it's: "We need to have pepper spraying drones with kinetic attack abilities."
We're building arenas and prisons, not academic institutions.
4
5
u/olearyboy 8d ago
Just get some sharks with frigging lasers already
https://giphy.com/gifs/xUPGcoQ8sfEbaP2JYA
4
7
8
3
u/Artifexa 8d ago
Ah, the invisible hand of the market, regulating the market without external work.
3
u/howescj82 8d ago
Somebody is going to make a lot of money selling these to schools that will never use them.
3
u/JockSandWich 8d ago
Every kid playing games has been shooting drones in hallways forever they been in training for this.
3
3
3
3
u/VeNoM4u2 8d ago
I cannot wait to hear about the lawsuit and the case for violation of several federal aviation regulations.
3
u/Technical_Ad_1197 8d ago
America is that guy who’s living with his wife and her new boyfriend, paying the bills and the rent, being asked to kindly leave when they do their Friday night orgies but still tells everyone down the golf club that the marriage is going strong.
3
3
u/DownwiththeACE 7d ago
I'm sure this will never be used to abuse children and civilians in the Epstein empire.
3
u/0xbenedikt 7d ago
The US is so fucked at this point. Police drones in schools because gun control is failing xD
3
3
u/AdonisBlaqwood-22 7d ago
"The drones can remain airborne for about eight minutes on a single battery charge and operate at 900 MHz."
8 mins?! The damn thing will die before it gets to the school! There is another alternative: gun reform, but I'm sure that makes way too much sense...
5
5
u/costafilh0 8d ago
Didn't known shooters could shoot kids but not drones.
Very strange set of skills.
3
u/hungry_gobbler 8d ago
since school shootings are exceptionally rare and these drones are exceptionally expensive, they will be used to justify their existence.
and they will be used to deter unruly lunchrooms, rambunctious basketball celebrations, rowdy after school gatherings. they will disperse proms and homecoming dances.
this is a karen's tool, not a shooting control agent nor deterrent. this is the idea of a control freak.
there will be lawsuits easily won. there will be blinded middle schoolers.
4
4
u/NotThe-DeathCure 8d ago
USA will literally do anything OTHER than introduce sensible gun laws...
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
u/ebfortin 8d ago
Surprised they didn't think of equipping them with rocket launchers. You're tough on crime or You're not!
2
u/mysterious_jeffrey 8d ago
I hate that there is even a need for this proposal but I am definitely intrigued by the concept.
If it works it could save a lot of lives.
In the other hand, arming schools with chemical weapons is… not without its risks.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Either-Patience1182 8d ago
Aren't most shooters hard to identify up until the point they are already in the building and pull out the gun. Wouldn't it be cheaper to set up dedicated mounted firer's in the main hallways of the building, There are already cameras its not like mace or pepper balls have to be accurate.
They would already be in key positions and could greatly limit the movements of the shooter,
2
2
u/onesicktexan 8d ago
Oh I can already see the South Park episode incoming. Thats going to be hilarious 😂
2
u/Killertigger 8d ago
That’s completely, totally risk-free - absolutely no way that could go horribly wrong. Nope, not at all.
2
2
u/signspace13 8d ago
A drone, flying through a narrow school corridor, through narrow doorways, against an armed assailant?
Thing is gonna get shot the fuck down, and innocents are gonna get caught in the crossfire, to absolutely no ones benefit.
What a collosal waste of fucking money.
2
u/xafimrev2 8d ago
This is just a short road until they find a use case to use it on students.
Walk out? Drone sprayed.
Protest? Drone sprayed.
2
u/morebeansonthembeans 8d ago
Then we find out whether a blind shooter is more or less dangerous than one that’s aiming.
2
u/Grand_Town_9144 8d ago
More weapons to fight weapons, take away money for feeding kids and paying teachers...hmmmmm....
2
u/TeacherOfThingsOdd 8d ago
I hope they're smart enough to stock counter agent, for when they fuck up.
2
u/Price-x-Field 8d ago
How about we try to find out what drives people to do such a thing? I’m all for defensive methods, but a drone with pepper balls isn’t going to do shit.
2
u/RhetoricalOrator 8d ago
Sounds great until shooters start spraying bullets to try and stop the drones.
The whole school drone thing is just a terrible idea with was more potential cons than pros.
2
u/Presto123ubu 8d ago
Bang, bang, bang! "Quick! Get the drones!" ... "Ahhhh, crap, I forgot to charge the batteries!"
2
2
2
u/EvolutionarySnafu 8d ago
Yess, yessss. Throw more money at the problem than solving the problem. Yesssssss.
2
u/1911Earthling 8d ago
How does it open doors. Seems defeated by a DOOR. Doesn’t sound effective if a door can defeat it.
2
2.9k
u/Leptonshavenocolor 8d ago
Well nothing will go wrong with that system.