School districts in three Florida counties will be participating in the new Campus Guardian Angel drone pilot program.
Florida's Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced today that Broward, Leon and Volusia counties will be the first three school districts to implement the program, which aims to keep schools safe and stop an active shooting situation using non-lethal distraction methods.
WATCH: Can drones stop another school shooting?
WPTV reported on a local demo of the Campus Guardian Angel drone program at FAU in June, and last week Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone went to Austin, Texas, to see the drones in action.
According to LaGrone, drones "would be deployed within seconds of a school shooting alert. The system aims to distract, disorient or physically stop a shooter while buying crucial time for first responders."
"Most of the death happens in the first two minutes," Campus Guardian Angel CEO Justin Marston told LaGrone. "So the challenge was, how do you get something that's instantaneous but elite and still affordable?"
The state has approved $557,000 for the program in these school districts, and Florida is the first state to fund this pilot program.
