Crew Demonstrates Technology Aimed To Pinpoint Terrorists At Large Events

A sniper with a high-powered rifle was on top of the Case Center at the University of Tulsa on Monday.

He was demonstrating technology that can pinpoint a shooter's location in a large crowd almost immediately.

The technology comes from Oklahoma company OverSite, and it can protect people from all kinds of terrorist attacks at big events like football games, political rallies, NASCAR races and state fairs.

Many experts agree, if terrorists want to shake citizens' sense of stability to the core, they'd deploy a dirty bomb or spread anthrax or have a group of shooters at a place where thousands of people go for fun.

This technology has been used in the military but is now available here at home.

Tulsa police sniper Perry Lewis was perched on top of the Case Center at the south end of TU's Chapman Stadium.

His target, an orange bucket sitting in the north endzone.

His job, to hit the bucket to show how new technology can pinpoint a shooter's location in under two seconds and within two inches.

The sensors triangulate and almost immediately, a dot appears on the screen to show where Perry is and the information could pop up on every officer's smartphone and pad in the stadium, so they know where to go.

"Go to the roof of the Case Center, no stopping along the way," OverSite's Don Eller said. "We know exactly how many people we had in that area, how many need to be headed to that area."

If cameras are hooked up, they could get a picture of the sniper, beam it through satellite to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and if he's in the system, police have the guy's name and an address within minutes.

"It's fast information," Eller said.

To look at their RV parked at a game or concert, you'd never know that inside is all this technology and more. 

"If we're looking for somebody in a crowd, we have our cameras working, we can find the bad guy, put facial recognition on him, he's identified, even if beard, mustache, glasses, hat, still gonna catch him," Eller said.

They can scan the air, water and soil for anthrax or other chemicals and have technology to detect a bomb left in a vehicle parked nearby.

This is the first time this technology has been available commercially and the company said it's affordable enough for cities the size of Tulsa to afford.

According to the group, Tulsa has 15 different places where more than 2,500 people could gather, so potentially, this equipment could be used on a weekly basis.