Photo: Moment RF
A Black high school student in Baltimore County was held at gunpoint by police after an artificial intelligence (AI) gun detection system mistakenly identified his bag of chips as a gun.
According to WBAL, Taki Allen, a student-athlete, said he had just finished football practice last week at Kenwood High School when officers approached him with guns.
“It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us,” Allen recalled. “They started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground,’ and I was like, ‘What?’”
Police told Allen that the school’s AI detector flagged a possible gun in his hand. Authorities later discovered that the detection was a crumpled Doritos bag.
“They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me,” Allen said. “Then, they searched me and figured out I had nothing. Then they went over to where I was standing and found a bag of chips on the floor.”
The Baltimore County Police Department confirmed officers responded to the school around 7:20 p.m. following a report of a “suspicious person with a weapon.” After searching Allen, officers determined he was not armed.
In a statement, the department said it would “refer questions pertaining to Omnilert," the AI gun detection system used in county high schools, to Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS). The district adopted the Omnilert AI system last year to monitor existing security cameras for potential weapons and alert school safety teams and law enforcement in real time.
Allen’s grandfather, Lamont Davis, said the experience was deeply upsetting.
“Nobody wants this to happen to their child. No one wants this to happen,” Davis said.
In a letter to parents, Kenwood High’s principal acknowledged the incident, saying administrators had quickly canceled the alert after confirming there was no weapon.
“We understand how upsetting this was for the individual that was searched as well as the other students who witnessed the incident,” the letter said. “Our counselors will provide support to those involved.”
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