An artificial intelligence detector mistook a bag of chips that a 16-year-old boy was carrying for a weapon, triggering a false alert that called police and landed him in handcuffs.
Taki Allen, a student at Kenwood High School in Baltimore, Maryland, told local news outlets that he was sitting with his friends, eating a bag of chips after football practice on October 20, when suddenly he was surrounded by multiple police cars filled with officers who handcuffed him at gunpoint.
“It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us. At first, I didn’t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground,’ and I was like, ‘What?'” Allen told WBAL. “They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me. Then, they searched me and they figured out I had nothing.”
The teen said the cops showed him a picture of a bag of Doritos in his hand that they claimed they had received from an artificial intelligence gun detection system installed in the school.
They explained that the shape his fingers made while holding the shiny, crumpled bag made it look like he was carrying a gun.
“I was just holding a Doritos bag — it was two hands and one finger out, and they said it looked like a gun,” Allen told WBAL-TV.
Allen said the ordeal left him feeling shaken.
“It was mainly like, am I gonna die? Are they going to kill me?” Allen recalled to WBFF.
The AI software, developed by security company Omnilert, was installed in all Baltimore County schools last year. The system combs through surveillance footage for weapons and calls local law enforcement if a potential threat is detected.
Allen’s family believes the response in the teen’s case was overwhelming and aggressive.
“God forbid, my grandson could be dead if he flinched or twitched,” said Allen’s grandfather, Lamont Davis. “He doesn’t want to come outside unless somebody is there to pick him up.”
Baltimore County Schools and local police released statements explaining what caused the incident and confirmed that no weapon was discovered at the school.
Omnilert also released a statement, reporting that the image taken by its AI software “closely resembled a gun being held,” and calling the picture a “false positive.” Still, the company defended the system’s response, stating it “functioned as intended: to prioritize safety and awareness through rapid human verification.”
Meanwhile, Allen and his family said that school leadership still hasn’t reached out to him personally.
“They didn’t apologize. They just told me it was protocol,” Allen said. “I was expecting at least somebody to talk to me about it.”
He says he’s now experiencing anxiety and discomfort at the thought of returning to school.
“I don’t feel like going out there anymore,” the teen said. “If I eat another bag of chips or drink something, I feel like they’re going to come again.”
