BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – OPENGATE Weapons Detection technology is coming to schools in Lee County.

On Thursday, Lee County School District representatives and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office gathered at Bonita Springs High School to unveil the new technology.

“This is the newest technology. If you are concealing a weapon… whether it’s a knife, whether it’s a gun, it’s going to alert, it’s going to catch our attention immediately,” said Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

Bonita Springs High School (BSHS) has been chosen as the pilot school to test this new technology. The OPENGATE Weapons Detection Equipment is battery-operated and portable. By the end of the school year, every school in Lee County is expected to have these detectors in place.

“It saddens me that something like this is necessary, but unfortunately it is,” says Bonita Springs High School Principal Jeff Estes, “but if our students, parents, and teachers are going to feel a little bit safer knowing that we have this advanced technology, then we’ll go through this system.”

Some students attended the unveiling of the detection equipment. They seem to be excited, knowing their school year will be safer.

“I used to be kind of worried coming to school, but now with all this, I feel more safe coming to school every day,” said BSHS student Tommy Nowman.