What happened

On January 22, 2025, a 17-year-old student at Antioch High School in Nashville brought a handgun into the school and opened fire in the cafeteria, killing 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante and injuring another student before taking his own life. 

The AI-powered gun detection system, Omnilert, which was integrated with the school's security cameras, failed to identify the weapon due to its positioning relative to the cameras. 

The system did activate later when responding police officers entered with their weapons.

Why it happened

The failure occurred because the shooter's weapon was not visible to the cameras at the time of the incident, highlighting a limitation in the system's reliance on camera placement and visibility for detection. 

While officials defended the system as effective under certain conditions, they acknowledged that no single technology can guarantee complete safety. Broader societal issues, such as how a minor obtained a firearm, also contributed indirectly to the tragedy.