Cobb County company gains popularity with its bullet-proof bookcases

ACWORTH, Ga. (CBS46) - In the wake of the May 24 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman killed 19 school children and two teachers, a Cobb County company is gaining popularity because of the innovative classroom safety product it creates.

ProtectED Solutions builds bullet-proof shields that double as bookshelves. The exterior of each bookshelf is made of steel. The interior is made of Kevlar.

Owner Pete Facchini said he first came up with the idea of creating a protective shield for classrooms after the Virginia Tech mass shooting in 2007.

“That was kind of like what got me thinking, and then when Sandy Hook happened, it was gut-wrenching to think kids were trapped in a classroom,” said Facchini.

Each bookshelf sits on wheels, so in the event there’s an active shooter in the hallway, the teacher would roll the bookshelf over the classroom entrance and lock it into place.

From the hallway, all the shooter would be able to see is his or her reflection in a mirror that comes standard on the back of each bookshelf.

“That’s our way of trying to communicate with the active shooter,” Facchini said.

The bookshelves are already in place in numerous schools in New Jersey and in two corporate offices in California that use them in their break rooms. Facchini said In recent weeks, he’s been flooded with emails from teachers asking how to get one.

“You know, the most catastrophic event is Sandy Hook, it’s Uvalde, when you have a gunman enter a room, and a bunch of people are trapped in there,” Facchini said, “so that’s what we wanted to address, and I think this product does it perfectly.”

Facchini hopes more school districts will see the value in the bookshelves and the lives they could potentially save.

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