School enters lockdown after AI mistakes student’s clarinet for a weapon

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A middle school briefly went into lockdown when an artificial intelligence system mistakenly thought a student’s clarinet was a weapon.

On December 9th, Lawton Chiles Middle School in Oviedo was placed on lockdown when a security system indicated a possible weapon was detected in a hallway.

Seminole County Public Schools reported (through WKMG) that a Code Red lockdown was automatically activated when a student was spotted on camera with an object resembling a gun—later identified as a musical instrument.

Instrument pose triggers automated Code Red

I just heard from the principal, Dr. Laudani, about what happened at school today. Apparently, a student was walking down the hall with their clarinet, and the security system mistakenly thought it was a weapon because of how they were holding it. It was a false alarm, thankfully, but it’s a little scary to think about how easily things can be misinterpreted!

Oviedo police also released a statement on its Facebook page, calling the code red a “precaution.”

Laudani explained that although there wasn’t a real danger to the campus, the safety system worked correctly by responding to what it believed was a threat.

According to Laudani, the school has several safety measures in place, including a system designed to identify potential dangers. Recently, this system was activated – a ‘Code Red’ – when a student was seen in a hallway carrying a musical instrument in a way that resembled holding a weapon.

The Code Red alert was canceled after staff and police determined the suspicious item was actually a musical instrument, not a gun.

Even though there wasn’t any real danger to the campus, I’d like you to talk to your student about why it’s harmful to pretend to have a weapon at school,” Laudani said.

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2025-12-13 18:18