Black-owned startup in Prince George’s County, PerVista, aims to prevent active shooters

Vennard Wright, co-founder of PerVista and Wave Welcome, speaks shorty after launching his business. (Photo courtesy of Janelle Wright/Wave Welcome) By James MathesonCapital News Service A yellow bus filled with middle schoolers heading home slowed to a stop at the corner of Sutler Drive and Iverson Street in Prince George’s County. It was just before 5 p.m. on a spring Monday in May 2023.Three young people hidden behind black face-coverings burst onto the bus, past the driver and the bus aide.The masked juveniles held a handgun to the chest of the lone middle schooler who remained on the bus, according to Prince George’s County Police. The trigger was pulled, but the gun jammed three times. The assailants beat the boy and fled the scene.Although disaster was averted that day, the incident weighed on Vennard Wright, a security and technology specialist who a few years earlier formed a cybersecurity firm called Wave Welcome.As a native of Prince George’s county, Wright had seen enough gun violence and wanted to do something about it.“Thankfully the gun jammed,” Wright said of that heartbreaking day last May. “But because of that, we developed a technology that uses AI to detect firearms and notify police.”Wright is...