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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Amid national shootings, student invents portable shield

Shield
Shield

Three days after the Pulse shooting in Orlando, Andrew Bloomfield noticed how much open space there was in his lecture hall.

“I was sitting down and I remember thinking, ‘If somebody came in here right now, what am I going to do?’” he said.

The 20-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior said he could try to run or hide under the desk, but it would be like hoping for a miracle to save him.

Then, Bloomfield had an idea.

For nearly three weeks, he worked several hours a day to create a prototype of The Minuteman, a foldable shield that would resist bullets if a shooting were to unfold.

He said the prototype is made of AR500 steel, which is capable of stopping .308-caliber rounds, allowing residents to stay protected and preventing criminals from misusing the shield.

“The police and other agencies have .308 caliber armor-piercing rounds that would be able to punch through the steel,” Bloomfield said, “but regular bullets that you can go buy at a sporting goods store wouldn’t be able to penetrate that metal.”

On July 7, he created a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising $35,000 and making shields for the public.

“All of the money is for getting the location for production, the means of production and the legal things taken care of so I can start making these on a large scale,” Bloomfield said.

Nathalie Perez, a 19-year-old UF business and sociology sophomore, said people will likely be interested in Bloomfield’s invention.

“There’s so much happening everywhere,” she said. “So people are scared, and fear is a great motivator, so that will really initiate what he’s trying to do.”

After seeing a July 7 YouTube video of Bloomfield demonstrating the shield, Perez said the design looks sturdy.

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Her only suggestion: Make it weigh less.

For now, Bloomfield said 15 pounds is the lightest model he could create. “Essentially, I would like to have two models: I would like to have one that is cheap, affordable and reliable at around 15 pounds, but also one that is extremely bare-bones and affordable at around 50 pounds,” he said.

Prices would range from $200 to $300, he said.

Bloomfield said people could carry the lighter shields in their cars or backpacks, and the heavier ones at bars and restaurants.

“I really want to protect people with this idea,” he said. “It’s really about making sure that these awful things that I keep seeing in the news never happen again.”

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