Interest in window security film grows following deadly Nashville school shooting

The attacker shot out glass doors to gain access to The Covenant School on Monday.
WSMV's Michael Warrick reports.
Published: Mar. 31, 2023 at 5:33 PM CDT

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV) - There is growing interest among schools and parents in a recently engineered security film that can make it harder for intruders to enter through broken glass doors and windows. The interest comes after an attacker shot out glass doors of The Covenant School on Monday and opened fire inside, killing three students and three workers.

Love’s Window Tint and Graphic Effects, two partnering businesses in Murfreesboro, said they’ve already taken five calls from private schools, interested in getting the product. The two Mid State businesses are dealers that can install the film.

“It can be kicked on, it can be beat on with a sledgehammer, it can be shot through, but not blown out,” Barry Clapp, owner of Graphic Effects, said. ”It stays there and stays in their way so they still can’t get in.“

The security film is manufactured by LLumar, which operates under the parent company Eastman. A video from LLumar demonstrates, in a controlled setting, how the film can prevent forced entry. A man shoots at the glass window with an AR-15 style rifle, and while the bullets go through the window and the glass shatters, it doesn’t blow out.

The man then tries kicking the window and hitting it with the stock of the gun, but it doesn’t immediately give way.

“It’s not bulletproof like you would say, it’s a security film to keep that window from being able to be penetrated by someone,” Clapp said.

In the wake of Monday’s school shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, Love said five private schools have already called, expressing their interest in having the LLumar security film installed.

“It’s just nonstop, after this happened it’s definitely something that everyone is looking into,” Love said.

Love and Clapp believe it could deter active shooters.

“That’s what we can prevent with this film. Had this film been on that door, she’d have been kicking and beating on that film and she might’ve given up, because she’d have never made it through,” Clapp said.

Love explained the film is applied to glass, and sealed and bonded to the window frame. That’s what makes it more difficult to penetrate.

“We’ve actually had schools call and ask about quotes and actually say, ‘well listen, if it’s not in the budget and the school’s not willing to pay for it, some of the parents have come forward and said we’ll put the money up, we’ll pay for it just to protect the kids,’” Clapp said of phone calls he’s received from some schools.