PLAINFIELD, NJ - August 6, 2025 - AScade today announced the debut of its new Active Shooter Door Barricading System. The patented and practical lockdown solution enables people to barricade themselves against increasingly common active shooter events (ASEs) that target schools, government facilities, transportation hubs, and office complexes.

The AScade system is an innovative, barricading component—not a gadget or a lock. It is ballistic-resistant and easily integrates with existing building/campus-wide emergency systems and building management systems (BMS’s). AScade provides a unified response against intruders and active shooters with real time first responder communications. The system is compliant with fire codes and requirements designated by the 1990 and 2008 Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA.

“It is essential to prepare for events and horrible criminals before they find us, by providing systems that strengthen building vulnerabilities, securing environments, and restoring safety, confidence, and comfort,” said Mike Presutti, the founder of AScade and the inventor of the Active Shooter Door Barricading System. “Existing gadgets marketed to commercial facilities are not systems, and almost all can unfortunately be used to entrap or imprison victims.”

The recent shootings in New York City underscore the importance of implementing this type of solution in public spaces. These unbelievable incidents reveal the potential for tragedy. It is hard to believe, and very upsetting when a shooter can casually walk into a school or office building with an automatic assault rifle or any other weapon.

The AScade system comprises an easy-to-use door locking mechanism, which is connected to a broader emergency notification system. Once activated, AScade initiates an instant alarm that announces a facility-wide emergency. It summons first responders as the building occupants shelter behind the barricade and await rescue.

AScade deploys quickly, and the system neither impairs nor blocks a means of egress or rescue. It cannot be used as an imprisoning mechanism and AScade can be easily redeployed if necessary.

AScade is also a visual deterrent. It shows intruders that a facility is not a soft, unprotected target, but rather a more difficult “harder” target that discourages radical criminal behavior.

If people are left outside a door barricaded by AScade, an attendant on the safe side of the door can easily and momentarily disengage the safe side of the barricade to provide refuge. Even disabled people can activate and engage the AScade Active Shooter Barricade.

Potential AScade customers include schools and universities, houses of worship, hospitals and medical facilities, retail locations, government-owned or leased buildings, and office buildings.

Presutti explained, “$3.1 billion per year is spent on school security, which includes fencing, ID systems, visitor protocols, etc. Only 25 to 40% of budgets target active shooter-specific systems for threat detection, lockdown technology, ballistic barriers, and armed security. Many schools still rely solely on manual lockdown procedures, ‘hiding under desks,’ and local police response.”

Comparatively, private, and municipal fire prevention systems budgets can exceed $1 million per school for full compliance and ongoing maintenance, which is ten to twenty times more than on active shooter deterrents, despite, to date, more than 1,000 school shootings and 130 deaths.

“We spend approximately 10–20 times more on systems that prevent fire than on active shooter deterrents, despite well over 1,000 school shootings and over 130 deaths in five years,” added Presutti.

Presutti concluded, “We long to restore a time when schools were safe havens, where teachers taught and inspired children who laughed, bonded, played and learned. Let’s keep them all safe.”

About Mike Presutti

Mike Presutti has over 30 years of experience in risk management, with an emphasis on high-risk industries, systems approaches, and human performance improvement. His experience spans construction project management, occupational and public safety, and various industry and public policy advocacies that promote sound organizational stewardship.

For more than 15 years, Mike has been a part-time researcher and adjunct lecturer at Rutgers University School of Public Health (formerly the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, UMDNJ), where he co-authors peer-reviewed articles (listed below) in academic and professional safety journals. At Rutgers, he is the primary DOL-OSHA Harwood Grant writer, course curriculum developer, and presenter.

In response to the horrific massacre at the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and concerned by the increased rate of gun accessibility and shootings, Presutti applied his knowledge of life safety laws, codes, occupational standards, and building management systems to create the first global patented system to barricade against active shooter events.

For more information, visit https://ascadesystems.com/

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