Michigan high school to deploy AI system to detect guns in real time – and alert security in seconds

A high school in Michigan is the first private school in the state to use artificial intelligence to detect guns as part of its security system – amid the country’s epidemic of school shootings. 

Lansing Catholic High School is using state funds to pay for a video analytics platform from a company called ZeroEyes that builds AI systems. 

ZeroEyes’ technology is layered onto the school’s existing video security equipment. AI and computer vision then work in concert with existing 3D satellite maps of a building – so that when a gun is seen, the exact location lights up to let officials know where the shooter is located. 

The real-time AI alert system is meant to prevent gun violence. 

According to Education Week, which has tracked school shootings since 2018, there have been 35 shootings in the United States with injuries or deaths this year alone. Thirty people have been killed and 76 injured in such incidents.

The system is layered onto existing security cameras and it harnesses AI and computer vision that works in concert with existing 3D satellite maps of a building

The system alerts school officials and first responders within a few seconds after detecting a gun.

By getting that information in real-time, security personnel can then lock doors or attempt to move people to safety. First responders can head in the direction of the shooter much faster armed with the knowledge of what type of weapon – or how many weapons – the shooter is carrying. 

 The most recent US school shooting was just this week. A student was shot and wounded by another student in front of a Massachusetts high school on Tuesday.

There have been 608 mass shootings in America so far this year, according to Mass Shooting Tracker. 

‘While we already have a robust security system, with campus-wide cameras and a lockout boot system, when I saw the ZeroEyes demo and realized how significantly it reduces law enforcement response time during an active shooter event, I knew that adopting the solution for our school was a no-brainer,’ Dominic Iocca, the school’s president, said in the news release.

ZeroEyes was founded by former Navy Seals and special operations veterans with a goal of preventing bloodshed. 

When a gun is seen inside a school, the exact location lights up to let officials know where the shooter is located 

By getting that information in real-time, security personnel can then lock doors or attempt to move people to safety

According to Education Week, which has tracked school shootings since 2018, there have been 35 shootings with injuries or deaths this year

The school did not share the total cost of the AI gun-detection system. 

Video feeds from the system are monitored around the clock by former military personnel to verify their accuracy. 

The system was also installed at Oxford and Vassar high schools in Michigan, but the company also aims to provide the technology to government agencies. 

‘We’re certainly committed to our commercial and education business lines, and that always will be the core focus of the company,’ JT Wilkins, ZeroEyes’ VP of government solutions, told BizJournals. 

‘But the government work is just as important. When you look at the statistics of an active shooter incident, 25% of those active shootings happened on government property. So this is an opportunity for us to really develop that next-generation response capability.’ 

Captain Matthew Matuszak, the director of innovation on Minot Air Force Base, told the business publication that ZeroEyes ‘adds an extra layer of protection for our airmen, radically improving our response times and ability to deter a potential attack.’

ZeroEyes technology is currently being used in 26 states and the company raised a $20.9 million Series A funding round a year ago.  

ZeroEyes’ system was also installed at Oxford and Vassar high schools in Michigan, but the company also aims to provide the technology to government agencies

ZeroEyes technology is currently being used in 26 states and the company raised a $20.9 million Series A funding round a year ago