AI mistook Doritos bag for a gun, teen held at gunpoint

Oct 2025

An AI-based gun detection system at a Baltimore County high school flagged a student carrying a Doritos bag as armed, leading armed officers to handcuff and search the teen at gunpoint before realizing the system hallucinated the threat.

Incident Details

Perpetrator:Vendor

Severity:Facepalm

Blast Radius:Student detained at gunpoint; district reviewing contract and safety policies; community trust hit.

Tech Stack

AI gun detection systemComputer visionCCTV analytics

References

The Guardian: Baltimore student handcuffed after AI gun detector flagged Doritos bag ↗ABC7: Student handcuffed after school’s AI security mistook Doritos bag for gun ↗