Brandon Macaluso’s side-hustle is all about saving lives. The tempo of that hustle has picked up substantially since 19 students and two teachers were shot to death in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
“My phone started blowing up,” the Greenville native says. “Unfortunately, we knew this was going to happen. It was going to take another big, mass shooting for people to wake up and make changes. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since that tragic event.”
Macaluso is president and CEO of BarricAid Technology Group, a North Carolina-based business utilizing patented technology that automatically barricades doors at the sound of a single gunshot.
“Myself and the founders were all in school during Columbine,” the Riverside High alum says. “You would have thought in the 25 years since we left high school, someone would have come up with a better solution to keep kids safe. We all have our own children now. We owe it to our kids to give them a safe and healthy learning environment.”
In 2017, BarricAid’s three founders, Roland Trout, Mike Pittman and Neal Davis, started designing the system that uses listening devices to measure acoustics and decibels to detect a gunshot. In fewer than 10 seconds, BarricAid automatically locks doors across campus, while simultaneously calling 9-1-1.
“It’s a game-changer if a shooter makes it inside a building,” Macaluso says. “Studies show every second counts in these situations and makes the difference in lives lost. Since the system remotely locks all classroom doors at the first bang, no one has to go up and slap the dead bolt. Teachers can follow their natural instinct to protect children and hide.”
While waiting for patent approval (which came in June of 2021), the founders and Macaluso have been working other, full-time jobs. Growth and series A and B funding has been purposely organic through personal networking. As of this past January, BarricAid is ready for mass production, with Macaluso leading the charge on sales, an area he knows well after 20 years in the telecommunication industry.
In the past three weeks, decision-makers in Texas have called to request information. The company is also in talks with administrators, educators and lawmakers from coast to coast. BarricAid’s ballpark cost is $1 per student, per school day, or $2,500 per door, plus installation fees. Macaluso puts that in context, saying, “In recent years, North and South Carolina have allocated $8,000-$11,000 annually per student. We’re asking them to spend about $180 more per child and there are government grants available to help defray the cost.”
BarricAid should be in place in one Lowcountry school by August’s first bell and five North Carolina schools by December.
“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” Macaluso says of the business’s potential. “Since doors automatically lock with only one gunshot, we envision a gunman entering a school of locked doors, and he’s so frustrated he leaves. It won’t stop a crazy man from entering a school, but once inside, he can’t get inside classrooms and go anywhere else. We’ve been working 80-hour weeks to show folks how well this unique system works and protects. But if we can save just one student’s life, it’s worth it.”
For more, go to BarricAidTech.com.
BarricAid isn’t just for schools. Churches have also been contacting company executives.
- More than 311,000 students have experienced gun violence since Columbine in 1999.
- There were 42 school shootings in 2021, the most of any year since 1999.
- This year, there have been 24 acts of gun violence on K-12 campuses during the school day.
-The Washington Post
