Armed Police Swarm Student After AI Mistakes Bag of Doritos for a Weapon

A 16-year-old student in Baltimore County, Maryland, was handcuffed at gunpoint outside his school after an AI gun detection system mistook his bag of Doritos for a weapon.

Taki Allen, a student at Kenwood High School, said he was sitting with friends after football practice on Monday evening when multiple armed police officers suddenly surrounded him.

“It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us,” Allen told local media. “At first, I didn’t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground.’”

Police ordered Allen to kneel, handcuffed him, and searched him — only to find he was holding nothing more than a crumpled chip bag.

“They showed me the picture and said it looked like a gun,” Allen recalled. “I said, no, it’s chips.”

The alert that triggered the police response came from Omnilert, an AI-based gun detection system used by Baltimore County Public Schools. The software scans school surveillance cameras for potential weapons and sends real-time alerts to law enforcement if it detects anything resembling a gun.

In this case, the AI reportedly mistook the shiny, folded Doritos bag for a firearm.

Baltimore County Police confirmed officers responded around 7:20 p.m., saying they received “a report of a suspicious person with a weapon.” After searching Allen, they determined he was not in possession of any weapons.

Allen said no one from the school reached out afterward.

“I just didn’t feel safe,” he said. “They didn’t apologize — they just told me it was protocol.”

His grandfather, Lamont Davis, said the situation could have turned deadly.

“God forbid, my grandson could be dead if he flinched or twitched,” Davis said. “Nobody wants this to happen to their child.”

In a letter to parents, Kenwood High School’s principal acknowledged the incident and said the initial alert was quickly reviewed and canceled after confirming there was no weapon. The school added that counseling services would be available to affected students.

The AI company Omnilert later described the case as a “false positive,” saying the image “closely resembled a gun being held.” The company said its system “functioned as intended — to prioritize safety and awareness through rapid human verification” — and promised to review the incident to improve accuracy.

Allen, however, says the ordeal has left him uneasy about returning to school.

“If I eat another bag of chips or drink something, I feel like they’re going to come again,” he said.