---
title: "Studying the Effects of Robot Distraction on School Shooter Behavior Using Virtual Reality"
authors:
  - "Christopher A. McClurg"
  - "Alan R. Wagner"
doi: "10.24963/ijcai.2026/851"
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2026/851"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/2026/0851.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 2026
pages: "7658-7666"
track: "Human-Centred AI"
keywords:
  - "Human-Centred AI: Humans and AI"
  - "Human-Centred AI: Machine Learning"
  - "Human-Centred AI: Robotics"
---

# Studying the Effects of Robot Distraction on School Shooter Behavior Using Virtual Reality

Christopher A. McClurg, Alan R. Wagner

*Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 7658-7666. DOI: [10.24963/ijcai.2026/851](https://doi.org/10.24963/ijcai.2026/851)

## Abstract

We examine a particular adversarial human--robot interaction for which mobile robots influence the behavior of people role-playing as a school shooter. Using a high-fidelity virtual reality environment, we conducted a controlled study with 150 participants. Two autonomous robots predicted participant movement and positioned themselves to interfere and distract. The robots' approach strategy was manipulated---either moving directly into the participant's path (aggressive) or maintaining distance (passive)---along with the level of distraction, ranging from no additional cues (low), to siren and lights (medium), to siren, lights, and smoke to impair visibility (high). An aggressive, high-distraction robot configuration reduced the number of victims by 46.6% relative to a no-robot control. These results show that robot-based distraction can meaningfully alter human behavior and outcomes in adversarial settings, while also raising important ethical questions about the use of such systems in school environments.