Will drones make schools safer? Anti-shooter tech coming to GA schools
Georgia students are wrapping up their first week back in the classroom for the 2026-2027 school year, and while some schools are back to business as usual, others have an additional support system.
In June, the Georgia State Board of Education approved “Campus Guardian Angel” pilot programs for five school districts across the state.
The safety program, which includes anti-shooter drones, comes from the Texas-based company Mithril Defense, and is costing the state half a million dollars during the pilot stage.
Here’s what to know about the “guardian angels.”
What is Campus Guardian Angel?
Campus Guardian Angel is more than just tech, it’s a complete safety system meant to assistant school districts in their emergency response and management.
One part of the system are drones that are designed to “distract, disorient, confront, degrade and incapacitate a shooter,” according to the company. The drones are equipped with sirens, pepper gel and other “distraction devices” that can delay an active school shooter, allowing law enforcement time to react and possibly prevent casualties.
The second part of the system is an app that helps to “improve situational awareness during a response” for not only staff and teachers, but also parents with children inside the school.
Lastly, the Campus Guardian Angel program also offers an “elite team” with “tens of thousands of hours of professional drone piloting.”
Georgia became the second state in the nation to adopt a pilot program for the drones with Campus Guardian Angel following Florida’s authorization of a program in 2025.
“We are thrilled to work with the State of Georgia to introduce an innovative and proactive approach to enhancing the safety of schools across the state,” Campus Guardian CEO Justin Marston and Chief Tactical Officer Bill King said in a June statement. “We are grateful to the Georgia General Assembly for embracing this critical new layer of school security, and look forward to working with each of the five pilot campuses to implement the Campus Guardian Angel system before classes begin in the fall.”
The following schools (and districts) are participating in the pilot program:
- Coffee County High School, Coffee County School District
- Gainesville High School, Gainesville City School System
- Statesboro High School, Bulloch County Schools
- Troup County High School, Troup County School System
- River Ridge High School, Cherokee County School District
Georgia school shooter faces life in prison
The schools will be experimenting with the new systems as Colton Gray, a 14-year-old shooter at Apalachee High School in Georgia, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at the end of July.
Gray, now 16, opened fire at his school on Sept. 4, 2024, killing two students and two teachers and injuring nine others. It was the deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history.
During his trial, prosecutors argued for a maximum sentence saying Gray “opened fire on perfect strangers only so he could become famous,” citing his membership in an online community that glorified school shooters. Attorneys for the defense said Gray openly admitted his actions, and they were “driven not by evil intent but by a desire to be accepted.”
Gray’s case made history as his dad was also convicted in relation to the shooting. His father, Colin Gray, was found guilty of murder and other charges for giving his son the gun later used in the shooting. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. His mother, Marcee Gray, is not facing charges but was accused of aiding Gray’s involvement in shooter online communities.