As the number and frequency of school shootings continue to grow, most recently at Santa Fe High School in Texas, sales of a security system manufactured by The Bilco Co. are soaring.
Officials at the New Haven company, best known for its metal exterior basement doors, said sales of The Barracuda, an intruder defense system that is placed on doors during an attack, rose 431 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with the first quarter of 2017.
Company officials would not say how many of the devices were sold in the first quarter of the year, but said last quarter’s sales were the strongest of any first quarter since the product hit the market in 2013.
The device can quickly be placed on a door, within seconds, during an active shooter situation and provides resistance that prevents the door from opening.
Demand for The Barracuda spiked after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., during which 17 people were killed, according to Bilco officials.
“The conversation changed forever on Feb. 14, due to the event in Florida,” Jim Edgeworth, Bilco’s director of sales and marketing of residential products, said in a statement. “Inquiries, distribution adds, website hits, media coverage and sales all reached record highs from that point on.”
In the wake of that and other tragedies, company officials said, interest in the Barracuda continues to grow among schools.
In Dennison, Ohio, a 10 year old named Kohlton Calvey raised more than $2,000 through bake sales and donations to purchase Barracudas for Clayton Intermediate School. In Taylor County, Ky., Superintendent Roger Cook used social media to encourage donations and, within days of asking, had generated enough money for the district to buy 324 units, according to Bilco.
Bilco officials would not say how many of the units have been sold in Connecticut, but said the devices are being marketed nationwide.
In addition to schools, the devices have been bought by churches, factories and businesses, according to Troy Lowe, who designed the device.
The Barracuda is made from heavy-duty steel and designed to be intentionally bulky so it utilizes gross motor skills, since individuals’ fine motor skills often are lost in stressful situations, said Lowe, who is CEO of Ohio-based Silverback Safety & Training Solutions and a SWAT medic team leader.
The Barracuda, he said, is lightweight, works with existing emergency operations plans and can be deployed easily. It also can be installed on inward- and outward-swinging doors in 10 seconds. His SWAT team training inspired the idea.
“As the SWAT team medic, I felt it was my responsibility to add in a medical component (in an active shooter situation) addressing the traumatic wounds inflicted by an attack,” said Lowe. “As fast as we’re responding, no one will beat the people who are already there. That led to my thinking the best medicine is to deny injury in the first place. Deny access, deny injury. So, hit and miss on prototypes until I figured out a simple solution to be used as an additional layering option in your barricading.”
His company also has developed trauma kits with simple instructions and training to accompany the device.
Depending on the model, prices for the Barracuda range from $79 to $129 a piece. The price per unit drops if a large number are ordered, or if they’re bundled with the trauma kit and training, Lowe said.
Nearly five years after it launched, The Barracuda still meets a crucial need, he added. Most recently, on May 18, a 17-year-old gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas, killing nine students and one teacher.
“It is sad to see so much violence,” Lowe said. “We can’t stop these attacks but we can definitely help increase the survivability rates through our Barracuda trauma gear and training. I realize we can’t save everyone, but we’re sure as heck gonna try.”
Cara Rosner can be reached at news@newhavenbiz.com
