Metairie inventor creates non-lethal Bopper to combat school shootings [Video]

METAIRIE, La. (WVUE) – As the nation grapples with the ongoing threat of school shootings, a Metairie inventor believes his creation could provide a non-lethal solution to save lives and protect classrooms.

Rick Sinclair, a 73-year-old businessman in Metairie, has spent the past three years developing the Bopper Defense System, a device he says is designed to disorient and incapacitate active shooters without taking lives.

The Bopper, which Sinclair calls a “hybrid of a grenade launcher,” doesn’t shoot bullets. Instead, it uses twin barrels to launch oversized darts packed with fly ash, a fine material Sinclair compared to barbecue grill ash “on steroids.”

The darts travel at 100 feet per second and are designed to cause enough pain and disorientation to neutralize a threat temporarily, giving teachers and students precious moments to escape or shelter.

“It’s going to break a rib. If it hits him in the head, it’s going …