Maryland teen handcuffed after faculty AI errors chip bag for gun

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Cops swarmed a 16-year-old highschool pupil final week after a synthetic intelligence (AI) gun detection system mistakenly flagged his bag of chips as a firearm, leaving officers and college students shaken.

Pupil Taki Allen was ready for his experience at Kenwood Excessive Faculty in Essex, Maryland, final Monday when he positioned an empty bag of chips in his pocket, in response to WMAR-2 News . Moments later, law enforcement officials out of the blue surrounded him, ordering him to the bottom and handcuffing him, the native station reported.

Physique digital camera footage launched by the Baltimore Police Division exhibits responding officers realizing that the varsity’s AI safety system, which displays video in actual time, had mistakenly flagged a bag of chips as a gun, triggering the legislation enforcement response.

"Police confirmed up, like eight cop vehicles, after which all of them got here out with guns pointed at me speaking about getting on the bottom. I used to be placing my arms up like, ‘What’s happening?’" Allen informed WMAR-2.

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In line with the video, law enforcement officials then reviewed the video flagged by the AI system, traced the merchandise to a close-by trash can and found that the supposed weapon was only a bag of chips.

"I suppose simply the way in which you guys had been consuming chips… It picked it up as a gun," a police officer informed the scholars within the video. "AI's not one of the best."

The Oct. 20 incident has left college students, metropolis officers and college directors asking who was chargeable for the traumatic incident.

Throughout a convention name, Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers mentioned the alert had initially been canceled, however the faculty principal had already begun coordinating a police response.

"The alert was cancelled by the BCPS (Baltimore County Public Colleges) Security Workforce. The principal, who didn't see the cancellation, contacted our Faculty Useful resource Officer," Baltimore County informed Fox Information Digital on Sunday, referring to a BCPS assertion.

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A bag of chips reportedly triggered a false gun alert, prompting police to reply to Kenwood Excessive Faculty in Essex, Maryland, on Oct. 20, 2025. (Baltimore Police Division)

Finally, the system functioned as supposed, Rogers informed WMAR-2.

"This system relies on human verification and on this case this system did what it was alleged to do, which was to sign an alert and for people to have a look to search out out if there was trigger for concern in that second," Rogers mentioned.

Omnilert informed Fox Information Digital their system combines each artificial intelligence with human verification earlier than any escalation.

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<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/343/192/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/686/384/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/672/378/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1344/756/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/931/523/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1862/1046/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/720/405/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1440/810/bodycam-shows-moment-cops-realize-school-gun-alert-was-just-a-bag-of-chips-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Police detain a number of college students ready to be picked up at Kenwood Excessive Faculty in Essex, Maryland, on Oct. 20, 2025, after a college AI safety system mistook a snack bag for a gun. (Baltimore Police Division)

"Our system operated as designed — it recognized a potential risk, elevated it for human overview, and relied on approved security personnel for closing dedication," the corporate informed Fox Information Digital, including that the thing was later confirmed to not be a firearm and the alert was marked as resolved.

" From that time ahead, Omnilert had no additional involvement in any subsequent actions or selections associated to this occasion."

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Allen, shaken by the incident, mentioned he not feels protected going exterior after football practice and that the incident ought to by no means have occurred.

"I do not suppose no chip bag needs to be mistaken for a gun in any respect , " Allen informed WMAR-2.

"I do not need - do not suppose I am protected sufficient to go exterior, particularly consuming a bag of chips or ingesting one thing. I simply keep inside till my experience comes," Allen added.