Maryland teen handcuffed after school AI mistakes chip bag for gun

Police officers apprehended a 16-year-old high school student last week after an artificial intelligence (AI) gun detection system mistakenly flagged his bag of chips as a firearm, leaving officers and students shaken.

While waiting for his ride at Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland, student Taki Allen put an empty bag of chips in his pocket last Monday, according to WMAR-2 News. Moments later, police officers suddenly surrounded him, ordered him to the ground and handcuffed him, a local station reported.

In body camera footage released by the Baltimore Police Department, responding officers realized that the school’s AI security system, which monitors video in real time, had mistakenly flagged the bag of chips as a gun, prompting the law enforcement response.

“The police showed up with like eight police cars and then they all came out with guns Pointed at me talking about getting on the ground. I was throwing my hands up, ‘What’s going on?'” Allen told WMAR-2.

Los Angeles teacher says ‘ice agents aren’t the only ones with guns’ after federal agent shooting

On October 20, 2025, several students were detained at Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland. (Baltimore Police Department)

According to the video, police officers later reviewed the video flagged by an AI system, located the item in a nearby trash can, and discovered that the alleged weapon was simply a bag of chips.

“I guess the way you guys were eating chips… picked it up like a gun,” a police officer told the students in the video. “AI is not the best.”

The October 20 incident has left students, city officials and school administration wondering who is responsible for the injuries.

During the conference call, Superintendent Dr. Miriam Rogers said the alert was initially cancelled, but school principals had already started coordinating. Police response.

“The BCPS (Baltimore County Public Schools) safety team canceled the alert. The principal, who did not see the cancellation, contacted our school resource officer,” Baltimore County BCPS told Fox News Digital on Sunday, referring to the statement.

FBI tip to NYPD arrests 16-year-old boy with loaded gun at school

A bag of chips triggered a false gun alarm, prompting police to respond to Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland on October 20, 2025. (Baltimore Police Department)

In the end, the system worked as intended, Rogers told WMAR-2.

“The program is based on human verification, and in this case the program did what it was supposed to do, which was raise an alert and have humans take a look to see if there’s a cause for concern at that point,” Rogers said.

Omnilert told Fox News Digital that their system combines the two artificial intelligence With human verification before any escalation.

NYPD hunts man accused of beating off-duty cop and stealing his gun, arrests alleged accomplice

20 Oct. In 2025, police detained several students waiting to be picked up at Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland, when the school’s AI security system mistook a snack bag for a gun. (Baltimore Police Department)

“Our system operated as designed – it identified a potential threat, elevated it for human review and relied on authorized security personnel for the final determination,” the company told Fox News Digital, adding that the object was later confirmed not to be a firearm and the alert was marked as resolved.

“From then on, Omnilert had no further involvement in any further actions or decisions related to this program.”

Click here to get the Fox News app

Shocked by the incident, Alan said he did not feel safe going out after that Football practice And the incident should never have happened.

“I don’t think any chip bag should be mistaken for a gun,” Allen told WMAR-2.

“I don’t want to – don’t think I’m safe enough to go out, especially to eat a bag of chips or drink something. I stay in until my ride comes,” Allen continued.