The day before gunfire pierced a Montgomery County high school, the district quietly began rolling out a pilot program for an AI-powered weapons detection system.

Chief Safety Officer Marcus Jones wrote to families in three high school communities — Seneca Valley, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Magruder — to tell them that their campuses were poised to test VOLT AI.

“This pilot is a careful, short-term opportunity to test a potential tool,” the Feb. 8 letter reads.

The next day, police said, a 16-year-old Wootton High School student brought a gun onto campus and shot a classmate. The 16-year-old victim was injured and is in stable condition at a local hospital.

Superintendent Thomas Taylor, asked about the lack of metal detectors in county schools at a Monday night news conference, pointed to the district‘s fledgling partnership with VOLT AI, which is based in Bethesda.

“There’s still a lot for us to learn about weapons detection and how it can best serve our community,” Taylor said.

The pilot is scheduled to begin in March. District officials said they won’t decide on broader implementation without careful review and community feedback.

How does VOLT-AI work?

The system was billed as an “AI-supported school safety tool designed to help staff notice and respond to potential safety concerns more quickly.”

The technology works in concert with existing school security cameras to flag potential dangers.

“VOLT-AI does not make decisions or take action on its own. When something is flagged, trained school staff review the information immediately and decide whether any response is needed,” Jones wrote in the letter.

“Essentially, it is an additional set of eyes that allows school staff to respond more quickly to potential safety concerns,” he added.

VOLT AI founder Dmitry Sokolowski said schools often use their security camera footage as evidence once something has already happened.

“The truth is that you could use those same cameras to be proactive, or at least much more reactive, to what’s happening,” he told The Banner.

What about student privacy?

Jones’ letter emphasized the technology does not monitor student devices, use facial recognition, track people from camera to camera or operate within restrooms.

It will not be used for routine discipline or to monitor general student behavior, he added.

Are other districts using it?

Sokolowski said his company’s technology is used in hundreds of schools.

School leaders in nearby Loudoun County recently signed a five-year contract with VOLT AI, set to be reviewed each year. It cost $1.1 million for the first year, The Washington Post reported.

Maryland districts have also turned to similar products.

In Baltimore County, the school district uses an AI-powered weapon detection system called Omnilert. Recently, that system flagged that a Kenwood High School student may have been carrying a gun. He actually was holding a bag of chips.

Police pulled up to campus and drew their guns on the teenager.

School officials said at the time that Omnilert was working as intended. About a week after the incident, the district announced it would conduct retraining for Omnilert.

Sokolowski said he does not believe such an incident would happen with VOLT AI.

His company’s system involves a person who investigates any flagged event from different perspectives.

“A human being makes a determination that that’s a real thing, and only then does it go directly to the school or a 911 dispatch center,” he said. “Throughout that whole process, we also have eyes and ears.”

How much does it cost?

Sokolowski isn’t charging Montgomery County for its 30-day pilot.

“We are confident in our technology, so we allow companies and school districts to pilot completely for free.”

He said he has not yet discussed future pricing models with the district.

Could this really prevent school shootings?

Sokolowski isn’t pitching his product as a panacea.

He knows it can’t prevent a shooting from ever again happening in America’s schools.

“People who want to do harm will find a way to do harm,” he said. “But it certainly helps with response, and helps to at least give an upper hand to the first responders.”

This story was updated to clarify the way that VOLT AI reviews footage.