Delaware school district installs weapon detector at stadiums after 2 gun-related incidents

MIDDLETOWN, Delaware (WPVI) -- After two gun-related incidents last year, a Delaware school district is installing a weapon detector security system at its stadiums for the upcoming year.

The Appoquinimink School District says starting next month, fans will be screened using a weapons detector called Evolv before entering football and basketball games at Appoquinimink, Middletown, and Odessa high schools.

"I'm just going to walk through," said Senior Coordinator for Student Services Terre Taylor, as she showed Action News how the screening process works.

As Taylor walked through the system, which looks similar to a metal detector, an alert sounded as it spotted her fake weapon.

"So there's me coming through with a box around where my little weapon is," she said after she walked through.

The system scans a person and their possessions as they walk through it, looking for heavy metal materials that are shaped like weapons.

Staff monitors the activity from screens nearby.

"This kind of gives an idea of people coming in. We're watching them from there," Taylor said while pointing at the screen.

A weapon will set off a beeping sound on the machine, and it will appear on the screen with a red box around where the AI technology believes the weapon is.

"I'd come here, have to empty my pockets, and go through again," she said of anyone who sets off the machine.

The district says for now, the AI technology will be used only at major sporting events such as football and basketball games.

They've also installed AI technology in the parking lot surveillance cameras that search for weapons.

"Right now, there's an anxiety in the community based on the incidents that happened last year," said Tom Poehlmann, the director of safety, security, and operations for the district.

Last September, one person was shot after a football game on Bunker Hill Road near Appoquinimink High School.

In February, police say a teenager brought a gun to a basketball game that discharged in the school hallway.

School officials hope this technology will prevent incidents like that from happening again.

"Our hope is it's going to allow a family to send their child out to watch a Friday night football game and feel the district is doing everything possible to keep their kid safe," said Poehlmann.

Each of the three systems is costing the district $40,000 a year and they're on a four-year contract, according to Poehlmann.

The district says it's still training on this technology for now. The first time it'll be used for the public will be the first home football game of the year after Labor Day.