An artificial intelligence gun detection system at a Baltimore County high school mistakenly identified a student’s snack as a firearm, prompting an armed police response that left one teenager shaken and the community questioning the technology’s reliability, WBAL-TV 11 News reported.
According to WBAL, 17-year-old Taki Allen was sitting outside Kenwood High School on Monday evening after football practice, eating a bag of Doritos with friends, when police officers arrived with guns drawn. “It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us,” Allen told WBAL. “They started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground.’”
Allen said officers told him that an AI system flagged his bag of chips — which he had crumpled and placed in his pocket — as a weapon. “They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me,” he said. “Then they went over to where I was standing and found a bag of chips on the floor.”
Police later showed him the image that triggered the system. “I was just holding a Doritos bag — it was two hands and one finger out, and they said it looked like a gun,” Allen said.
Baltimore County Police confirmed to WBAL that officers responded to a report of “a suspicious person with a weapon” around 7:20 p.m. Monday. After searching Allen, they found no weapon. The department referred questions about the AI system to Baltimore County Public Schools.
The district began using Omnilert’s AI-based gun detection system last year, designed to analyze school security cameras and alert staff and police if a weapon appears visible.
Kenwood High’s principal told parents the alert was quickly canceled after administrators confirmed there was no threat, adding that counselors are available for affected students.
Allen’s grandfather, Lamont Davis, told WBAL, “Nobody wants this to happen to their child. No one wants this to happen.”
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