‘Turn that weapon into a paperweight’: Can a suburban tech company’s drone stop mass shootings?

If the answer to a bad guy with a gun isn’t a good guy with a gun, how about a good guy with a drone that disables the gun?

That’s the idea behind the Close Quarter Drone, the brainchild of a pair of suburban business owners — one an experienced entrepreneur, the other a former Navy SEAL — who say their high-tech device could end a mass shooting long before law enforcement has a chance to respond.

The men behind Libertyville-based Brecourt Solutions say their CQD can be deployed with a push of a button, autonomously identify and track an armed person and then disable their weapon.

“It will turn that weapon into a paperweight,” said retired SEAL Jeff Ross, who launched Brecourt with co-founder Dave Forman.

How? Without revealing trade secrets, they said their drone comes equipped with a device that attacks the bolt carrier group of a firearm, essentially the components that feed and fire bullets.

Ross came up with the concept based on his military training, when he would intentionally jam his weapon to practice making it functional again.

“I was thinking, ‘Could we induce a malfunction that would be extremely hard to clear, if not impossible to clear?’” he said. “And so that's how we started developing these concepts.”

How it began

Ross and Forman met through their wives, who are coworkers. Their conversations turned to preventing mass shootings in the weeks after the 2022 events in Uvalde, Texas, and at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade.

Forman said they initially imagined drones that could physically attack a shooter, but changed course when they realized that schools and other facilities — along with their insurance carriers — wouldn’t go along with that.

“If this was something that could potentially hurt the shooter, we knew that it could potentially hurt an innocent bystander or a child,” Ross added.

So they pivoted to incapacitating the weapon instead of the person carrying it.

“Once we realized that we would be able to malfunction a weapon with a drone, our company was born,” Forman said.

How’s it work?

Forman and Ross say the drone, or multiple drones, would be pre-positioned at strategic locations within a facility such as a school, shopping mall, office, theater, arena, etc.

When a threat is detected, an authorized person could activate the drone — they’re making them in 7“ by 7” and 12“ by 12” sizes — by pushing a button. From there, the drone flies autonomously — no pilot needed — while using Artificial Intelligence technology and traveling up to 50 mph to locate the threat. Once the threat is located, the CQD swoops in to make a “kinetic strike” on the firearm that will disable it, according to the company.

“Just knock the weapon out of the ball game,” Forman said,

The pair say the drone is intended to fill a gap between the onset of violence and the time in which police can arrive to address it.

“We equated it to fire emergencies. We have smoke detectors and fire alarms that alert and detect fires, but we don't wait for the fire department to get there. We have sprinkler systems in between,” said Ross. “Why don't we have the same type of solution for the leading cause of death of children since 2023? So really, it was borne out of necessity. It was borne out of this gap of time, and because there was no solution to it.”

If you’re wondering how much a CQD might cost, so were we. Forman said for most, it will be less expensive than a full-time security officer.

“We're charging maybe $30,000 a year for a system that's going to be way more effective in a dangerous situation,” he added.

What’s next

Forman and Ross are visiting high-tech trade shows to get the word out on their product and negotiating with potential clients, including school districts and casinos.

They also say they’ve consulted with active shooter response experts and even a former school shooter to further develop the drone.

The pair plans to have their first drone out in the field in about six months and expects to be through the development phase in 12 to 18 months.

Carjacker’s sentence sticks

The state's 3rd District Appellate Court has upheld a 36-year sentence given to a former Chicago man who was part of a carjacking mini-spree in 2019 in DuPage County.

Emmanuel Embry, now 25, argued the sentence is excessive, given his age (20) at the time of the crimes and his upbringing, as the son of a single mother in a rough neighborhood, where five of his friends had been killed and he was shot at six times.

But the appellate court said DuPage County Judge Michael Riedy appropriately considered those factors during the May 2023 sentencing hearing, and was well within his discretion when he imposed the 36-year term. Embry faced a minimum of 21 to a maximum of 45 years in prison.

Embry had pleaded guilty to carjacking a pregnant woman at gunpoint in her Downers Grove driveway in December 2019. Authorities said he also was involved in another carjacking in Warrenville that day, and another one in Downers Grove two weeks prior.

“(Riedy) was aware of and discussed defendant’s youth,” the appellate court’s decision states. “(He) took the time to consider the evidence in aggravation and mitigation, including defendant’s upbringing.”

Embry's projected parole date is Oct. 29, 2037.

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