by Mary Spiller
October 26, 2025
‘I used to be simply holding a Doritos bag — it was two arms and one finger out, they usually mentioned it appeared like a gun,’ mentioned the scholar Taki Allen.
A Baltimore highschool pupil says he was terrified after law enforcement officials approached him with weapons drawn when a synthetic intelligence (AI) system falsely recognized his bag of Doritos as a firearm. Taki Allen, a pupil at Kenwood Excessive Faculty, was sitting with associates outdoors the varsity Oct. 20 when police all of a sudden arrived, responding to what they believed was a report of an armed particular person.
“At first, I didn’t know the place they had been going till they began strolling towards me with weapons, speaking about, ‘Get on the bottom,’ and I used to be like, ‘What?’” Allen advised shops, as reported by The Guardian.
Allen mentioned the officers handcuffed and searched him earlier than realizing he was unarmed. They later confirmed him the picture that had triggered the AI system’s alert. “I used to be simply holding a Doritos bag — it was two arms and one finger out, they usually mentioned it appeared like a gun,” he mentioned.
The incident stemmed from Baltimore County’s use of an AI-powered surveillance system that scans college safety footage for what it interprets as weapons. The system pinged on Allen. When the software program flags a possible risk, it sends an automated alert to highschool workers and legislation enforcement.
In a letter despatched to households, college officers acknowledged the misery brought on by the occasion. “We perceive how upsetting this was for the person that was searched in addition to the opposite college students who witnessed the incident,” the letter learn of the Allen state of affairs.
“Our counselors will present direct help to the scholars who had been concerned on this incident and are additionally obtainable to talk with any pupil who may have help.”
The Baltimore County Police Division confirmed the false alarm, stating that “officers assigned to Precinct 11-Essex responded to Kenwood Excessive Faculty following a report of a suspicious particular person with a weapon. As soon as on scene, the particular person [Taki Allen] was searched and it was decided the topic was not in possession of any weapons.”
The grandfather of Taki Allen, Lamont Davis, mentioned he was shaken by the encounter. “No person desires this to occur to their little one. Nobody desires this to occur,” he advised shops.
The incident has renewed issues concerning the reliability of AI surveillance in colleges and the potential for false alerts to escalate into harmful conditions.
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