Oklahoma City police are putting their drones to work, and the latest footage is straight out of a crime show. Video released Tuesday by the department shows a drone from the Real Time Information Center tracking a person outside U.S. Grant High School after officers got a call about an active burglary on June 20. In the aerial clip, the individual appears to toss what the video frames as a handgun, and police say the person is a convicted felon. City officials say the live drone feed helped officers locate the suspect at the scene.
June 20th, we received a call of an active burglary at US Grant HS. The Real Time Information Center (RTIC) launched a drone & assisted locating suspects. The drone captured video of one suspect, a convicted felon, tossing a gun. pic.twitter.com/wGrsbPvfug
— Oklahoma City Police (@OKCPD) July 21, 2026
In a post on X, the Oklahoma City Police Department said dispatchers received word of an active burglary at U.S. Grant High School on June 20 and that technicians inside the RTIC launched a drone to help track down suspects, according to Oklahoma City Police Department. The department’s edited clip shows a person discarding an object officers identified as a firearm, and the post states the suspect is a convicted felon. The social media update did not include any information on arrests or specific charges.
How the RTIC and drones are used
The Real Time Information Center is designed to knit together live camera feeds, license plate readers and drone video to give officers situational awareness before they roll up to a scene, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department. The department’s 2023 annual report notes that the RTIC went live in November 2023 and describes a “drones as first responders” model that puts eyes on incidents ahead of patrol units. Those tools, the report says, have already been used to locate missing people, recover stolen property and assist with suspect apprehensions.
Local track record and privacy questions
In the months since the RTIC launched, local reporting has cataloged a growing list of drone-assisted operations, from suspect searches to stolen car recoveries, and has flagged both the public safety upside and the civil liberties concerns that come with always-on eyes in the sky. Reporting on a drone hunts down stolen car in woods has highlighted earlier missions where remote pilots guided officers to suspects. The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Atlas of Surveillance lists Oklahoma City among the agencies running real time crime centers, underscoring that this kind of always-connected policing tech is part of a broader national trend.
Legal implications
If a convicted felon is found to have possessed a firearm, Oklahoma law treats that as a separate felony offense. State statute 21 O.S. § 1283 bars firearm possession by convicted felons and spells out the penalties on conviction, as reflected in state legal materials available through Westlaw. The police post also reiterated that any suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty, in line with statements from Oklahoma City Police Department.
As of Tuesday, the department had not released additional details on arrests or charges tied to the incident, and Oklahoma City Public Schools had not issued a statement tied to the video. Police are asking anyone with immediate, time sensitive information to contact emergency services. Each new RTIC deployment, including this drone-assisted response at U.S. Grant High, is fueling an ongoing conversation in Oklahoma City about policing, transparency and the reach of surveillance tech in local neighborhoods.
