"After Sandy Hook, I was like – I can make a product that is basically a derivative of what we're sending to Iraq and Afghanistan and put it in the hands of teachers." – George Tunis
Chardon High School will start the school year with two new emergency response shields worth around $800 each.
George Tunis, the CEO of Hardwire Armor Systems in Pocomoke City, Md., donated the shields, which came about after Rick Stark, president of South Shore Controls — an industrial automation facility based in Perry, Ohio — worked on a project with Hardwire.
Stark’s daughter was in the Chardon High School cafeteria on Feb. 27, 2012, when a fellow student opened fire, killing three students and injuring three others.
“I went to go meet with them to talk about some other projects and when they found out where I was from, we started talking about school safety and my experience, my daughter’s experience,” Stark said.
Tunis, in a phone interview, said he was happy to donate the shields to Chardon, partly because of the high quality of work done by Stark’s company, but also because he remembered the 2012 shooting and its traumatic impact on the school district and community.
Stark facilitated an introduction to Coach Frank Hall, who also visited the Maryland facility in June along with representatives of the Coach Hall Foundation.
Calling Hall an “incredibly selfless, brave guy,” Tunis said during the 2012 shooting the only thing Hall had to defend himself was a Pepsi machine to hide behind, but during his visit to Hardwire, Hall said the same word Tunis has heard from teachers and police officers across the country – empowering.
“(They said) this is so empowering, we can actually do something today that matters, gives others a fighting chance,” he said.
The emergency shields were developed from protective products the company was already making for soldiers deployed overseas, and can protect against attacks from assault rifles, shotgun and handgun bullets, as well as knives, Tunis said.
“After Sandy Hook, I was like – I can make a product that is basically a derivative of what we’re sending to Iraq and Afghanistan and put it in the hands of teachers,” Tunis said.
He said the shields are designed to disrupt a shooter, which is why text and directions on the front of the shield run sideways when it is held in a defensive posture.
“We noticed that people will try to read it,” Tunis said. “The shooter will look at is so intently, he’ll cock his head, every single time.”
Tunis said shooters are often disconnected from their victims and following a pre-rehearsed plan, but shooting at someone repeatedly without wounding them can disrupt the shooter’s plan.
The shields also prevent injuries from ricocheting bullets, which have killed students in some shootings that were otherwise contained. Tunis said a shooter can “empty a whole clip” into a shield, giving a school resource officer or teacher a chance to rush the shooter while they are reloading.
Hardwire has worked extensively with police officers in New York City and recently completed armoring every vehicle in the NYPD fleet. Police officers requested the safety upgrades after a rash of violence saw officers being killed as they sat in their cruisers, Tunis said.
The officers campaigned through their police unions to have the armor considered part of their necessary Personal Protective Equipment, Tunis said, adding he sees that as a model other groups, including teachers unions, can follow.
Tunis’s company has already outfitted the schools his children attended and has sent shields to schools in all 50 states.
“There are hundreds of thousands of students protected,” Tunis said. “But that’s still a small number compared to breadth of problem.”
Tunis said the shields can be hung near fire extinguishers, which he said are required by building codes to be installed every 75 feet in public places.
At the Chardon Schools Board of Education meeting June 26, Stark said when he returned from his trip to Maryland, he found himself in line for coffee in front of Chardon Schools Superintendent Michael Hanlon and used that opportunity to discuss the donation.
“We agreed to, in discussion with (Chardon High School Principal Doug) Murray, use this as a prototype in our school and take advantage of the donation to the district,” Hanlon told the board.
Although he worked to make the donation happen, Stark said he hopes the shields never have to be used.
“I hope they get dusty,” he said.
