In the wake of the deadly shooting in Florida, schools across the Mid-State have been training officials and reviewing proper safety protocols.
Herring Technology, a Nashville-based security company, has hoped school officials will consider a military grade technology that would help respond to an active shooter situation.
The Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System acts like a smoke alarm but would detect the sound and flashes of gunshots instead.
"It will notify over the network to everyone within the building or the school that there was an actual shot and where the shot is. It'll notify 911 to put in the call for an active shooter immediately," said Herring Technology Vice President Tom Herring.
The system would alert people through text messages telling them when and where the gunshots were fired.
Through a map, it can pin-point the direction of the gunman and give people a better advantage of where to go.
"It decreases that time getting in and taking out the shooter. Seconds are everything in a shooting like this," added Herring.
Nashville will soon launch a similar technology in some of the city's most violent neighborhoods in an effort to reduce gun violence.
ShotSpotter uses sound sensors attached to light poles and buildings to track the exact location of gun shots. The goal is to immediately give police accurate information that allows for faster response times.
However, the shooter detection system focuses on shootings inside a building.
The company that created the system is based in Massachusetts and began producing for the military in 2002 before it was commercialized in 2013.
"We had been doing it for the military for about a decade. I'd never expect to do it at schools," Shooter Detection Systems CEO Chris Connors told NewsChannel 5.
Currently, he has no customers in Tennessee.
However, more than 300 places, including schools, universities, city halls, courthouses, and office buildings in other states like California, Texas, Ohio, Virginia, and Georgia, are equipped with the detection system.
Depending on the size of the building, the detection system can cost between $10,000 and $75,000.
