Could the solution to school shootings be drone first responders? An Austin-based tech company thinks so and is testing them in Colorado.

The drones are already in action in a few Texas schools and will soon be in hallways in Florida.

Right now, the company is touring the country and offering demonstrations in schools like Regis Jesuit High School.

In a school shooting, every second counts. But the company, called Campus Guardian Angel, says their drones can confront school shooters in just 15 seconds.

"We wanna be that first responder and we wanna help save lives," said Justin Marston, the company's founder and CEO.

The whirring of drones filled the halls of Regis Jesuit High School as Campus Guardian Angel demonstrated the technology it says can locate, distract, and delay a school shooter.

"The inspiration for the company came from watching how incredibly successful these little drones could be against people with guns in the conflict with Ukraine," said Marston.

Marston says the company places anywhere from 30 to 90 drones in a school, and pilots operate them from its Austin headquarters.

"The whole idea is how do we get everywhere fast enough to stop somebody who's shooting kids," said Marston. "At the moment that we need to pull a drone from a box, press the button, the door opens, the drone flies out."

The drones can engage a shooter with sirens, a two-way speaker, and pepper spray.

"Our goal is just to make it hard for them to see, make it hard for them to breathe so they can't do what they were planning to do," said Marston.

If that's not effective, the drones themselves become non-lethal weapons.

"If somebody persists in wanting to murder children, then our answer is we'll just continue to hit them with drones until law enforcement is on scene," said Marston.

Marston says the technology is also a deterrent to violence.

"When you have this installed, mass shootings become incredibly difficult and very unattractive for people thinking about doing it," said Marston.

Six drones will cost a school $15,000, plus a cost of $4 a month per student for the service. At a school like Regis, with a student enrollment of just under 1,700 last year, that would cost approximately $7,000 per month.

"School safety is something that we're thinking about 24/7 and what they've come up with here is an amazing technology," said David Card, president of Regis Jesuit High School.

Card says Regis is learning more about the technology, but it's too early to say if the drones will be joining students in the halls of Regis.

"Seeing it in our own building is fantastic. To see how quickly the drones can spot where trouble is and confront it, that's really encouraging," Card said.

"You hope you never use it, but if you need it, it will save lives," said Marston.

Campus Guardian Angel says right now they're focused on schools, but they foresee expanding to offer the drone technology anywhere security is needed.