FloorTress aims to keep students safe with its in-floor mounted device. Founded in 2023 by Wilmington native David Greenough, the company is in a period of growth, and Greenough thinks it’s an important tool to have in our schools.

“What it does is it prevents an active shooter from getting into a classroom, cafeteria or auditorium. It keeps them in the hallway,” said Greenough, who spent 16 years as a school resource officer stationed at public schools before founding FloorTress.

He said that the device itself is made of steel or aluminum and is drilled into the floor near the classroom door.

It could be deployed in two seconds if an active shooter threat occurred and would block the door to the classroom to keep a shooter away. He said that FloorTress can block 40 to 50 tons of weight due to the steel it’s made of.

“This device will block entryway into the room, and an active shooter is usually searching for quick targets. If he sees he cannot get in, he’s moving on,” Greenough said.

Greenough said that statistics have shown that an active shooter is looking to harm as many people as possible as quickly as possible before being confronted by law enforcement.

FloorTress, named because its product inserts into the floor and combined with the word fortress, is a tool that can help teachers and students protect themselves in case of an actual shooter event.

Greenough said he is in the final phase before having it fully patented and has several school systems in North Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania and Ohio, as potential clients.

He added that this product is compliant with safety regulations in conjunction with state building codes and fire marshal offices and more cost effective than most of his competitors with similar products.

Greenough added that local churches, as well as some businesses also have shown interest in FloorTress.
“In the world we live in today, it’s sadly a needed product whether something ever occurs or not, and while you hope it won’t, we need to be prepared if it does,” Greenough said.

Being a former school resource officer, he has watched the school system landscape change over the years.
“It does seem like that once social media really popped up, it became more volatile,” he said.

There were 50 active shooter incidents at elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. between 2000 and 2022, according to National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent annual report school crime and safety released last year.

According to Sandyhookpromise.org, 12 children die each day in the United States from gun violence, and while not all are school-related, many are on or near our local school grounds.

Greenough said he created FloorTress to help protect others from potential violence.

While it’s a product for schools, it could also be used other places, he said, citing the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

“I could see this product being implemented in any school, church or office because it’s beneficial and a safety mechanism for everyone,” Greenough said. “The goal is to protect lives and this will do it.”

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