FRANKLIN, La. (KLFY) -- St. John Elementary is taking a new approach to school safety with the help of a new artificial intelligence.

The artificial intelligence software is called Zero Eyes and is said to help be proactive in gun protection and situational awareness when it comes to mass shootings and gun-related violence, according to their website.

News 10 spoke with Sheri Higdon, St. John Principal, about how they found out about the program. She said a parent of one of their students heard about it through a police convention in Florida. When they learned more about what Zero Eyes is and the good it can do, they were all in.

"The reason we chose Zero Eyes is because it is proactive. It's not reactive. You know, you don't have to wait till a shooting occurs before you get an alert." Higdon said.

Founded in 2018 by a team of military veterans, Zero Eyes has prevented multiple potential shootings on school campuses in 46 different states. Co-founder Sam Alaimo said Zero Eyes' algorithm is able to identify weapons through the cameras and an alert is sent to a team of professionals who can verify if it indeed is a possible threat and if authorities need to be notified.

"We have and it will be done in multiple pathways. We have a direct in line with the 911 dispatch center. We call primary or secondary tertiary points of contact at the school. We have a mobile app. We send text message. We also send notification via a desktop dashboard and the video management system." Alaimo said.

During school threats, law enforcement get a lot of calls with contradictory information. This makes it difficult to know the situation. Zero Eyes prevents that from happening as it can identify the shooter, the weapon, and their location in seconds.

"Once that gun is seen in front of a camera within about 3 to 5 seconds, they're going to have an alert in their hands of the shooter. Picture of the shooter, the exact location of the shooter and the exact time they were there." Alaimo said.

With artificial intelligence software such as this advancing and aiding school safety, there will be no surprise if we see more technology like this in the future.

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