Can drones respond to school shootings faster? This Texas company says yes
Drones are seemingly everywhere these days, delivering groceries, taking photos and responding to emergencies.
Now, an Austin-based company is advertising them to Texas school districts as a tool to assist law enforcement during shootings. There have been 47 in 2025, the most recent on Aug. 27 that left two children dead at a Minneapolis school.
Campus Guardian Angel says it will equip schools with Texas-built fleets controlled by pilots from its Austin command center, who will work with the schools’ police. Typically, police drones are slower and designed for videography. These drones are designed to move faster, the company said.
CEO Justin Marston compared the technology to a sprinkler system that is quickly activated by fire. In the same way, the drones will already be in a secure location, ready for deployment.
“Our goals are to respond in five seconds, to be on the shooter in 15 seconds and to degrade or incapacitate in 60 seconds,” Marston said. “There’s no way that law enforcement can achieve that, it’s too hard, it’s too fast.”
Marston said when his company spoke to Ukrainian special forces, they told him the drones were successful in 599 of 600 missions.
The company has demonstrated the drones’ capabilities to the Highland Park, Boerne and Waco school districts. It is in talks with Spring Branch in Houston, where a girl is accused of plotting an attack at Memorial High School in February.
What can the drones do?
The drones can fly at up to 100 mph and remain airborne for eight minutes. They can break glass, fire pepper spray and deliver disorientating sounds.
The Keller school district was the only one in Tarrant County aware of the program, after officials saw a demonstration at a regional conference, but said it has no plans to work with the company.
A box of six drones can cost up to $15,000, and the company said that a typical school could need three to 15 boxes.
Recently, state Sen. Royce West, a Democrat from Dallas, hosted a demonstration at Elsie Robertson Lancaster STEM Middle School.
In a video provided by Campus Guardian Angel, West said that this type of technology is needed in Texas schools.
The Boerne school district west of San Antonio plans to acquire the drones.
Rick Goodrich, chief of safety and security of the 11,200-student district, said the drones would be able to help determine the best course of action before police arrive, so they would know what type of situation they’re walking into.
Goodrich spent 35 years in the military and was a special agent with the DEA before he joined the district in 2022. He said it was essential to be transparent with parents.
“The more we educate the parents on all the things we’re doing, the lower the anxiety level is,” Goodrich said. “And the higher that trust level is, we’re balancing those things out.”
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved $557,000 for a CGA drone pilot program at three school districts for the 2025-26 school year. The program includes 20 boxes of drones, four pilots, and five support staff, as well as travel and setup costs.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM.