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CCS to spend over $3 million on high-tech security scanners for high schools

The Evolv Express weapons detection system.
evolvtechnology.com
The Evolv Express weapons detection system.

A day after a loaded semiautomatic pistol was recovered from an Eastmoor Academy high school student, Columbus City Schools announced they will lease 20 high-tech weapons detection systems - at a cost of more than $3 million over four years.

The Evolv systems being provided by Minnesota-based ByteSpeed, look like the department store anti-theft devices. They are touchless, and don't require detection wands.

The contract with ByteSpeed was approved by the district Board of Education in December, and the money will come from emergency relief funds or elementary and secondary schools. Last September the district purchased 60 metal detectors for high schools.

Police continue to search for the 15-year old who brought the gun to Eastmoor Academy Thursday. School security called police, but the student fled before they arrived, leaving the gun in a backpack behind.

It's at least the ninth incident of a student bringing a gun to a Columbus City School since the start of the school year.

A native of Chicago, naturalized citizen of Cincinnati and resident of Columbus, Alison attended Earlham College and the Ohio State University. She has equal passion for Midwest history, hockey and Slavic poetry.