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Massachusetts school launches shooter detection system

12 November 2014 04:14 (UTC +04:00)

The Guardian Active Shooter Detection System was demonstrated at the school in Methuen, about 30 miles north of Boston, on Tuesday.

The tech was developed based on a system used by the US military and is the first of its kind in the US, according to the manufacturer, Shooter Detection Systems.

The system is being marketed to schools and other public spaces throughout the United States.

As the school was closed on the occasion of the Veterans Day, the system was introduced with a man firing blank shots in the school's hallways.

A police coordinated a response followed the shots over radios with the audience watching circles locating the shots on a floor plan projected in the school's auditorium.

"It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure our schools are sanctuaries for learning," said Massachusetts Democratic representative Niki Tsongas prior to the demonstration, which was also viewed by police chiefs from across the region.

"From Columbine to Sandy Hook, unspeakable acts of violence have occurred in our schools, and gun violence is now a major concern for our children, our educators, and our parents," she added.

Many schools across the country have installed metal detectors and surveillance systems to tackle a surge in the shootings.

In December 2012, a gunman opened fire on students in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 first-grade school children and six adults.

Shooter Detection Systems' CEO Christian Connors said the system costs between $50,000 and $100,000 for a school of Methuen's size.

Connors added that the company was negotiating with the Federal government over a wider use of the system, which was originally developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an arm of the US Defense Department, as well as Raytheon, a major American defense contractor.

Every year, thousands of Americans lose their lives to the escalating gun violence in the country.