Video from a robot dog helped detectives identify and arrest two murder suspects in a Georgia drive-by shooting which killed a 13-year-old boy and a 45-year-old man, police told Newsweek.
A dog also died in the gunfire. Keyshun Webb, 21, and a 16-year-old boy were arrested following the July 2 attack on a home in the 2400 block of Rockcliff Road, said the DeKalb County Police Department. They face charges including murder and cruelty to an animal.
Newsweek believes this is the first time a robot dog has helped to make an arrest in a murder investigation. Undaunted, the Atlanta-based startup behind the quadruped devices, says it has already deployed more than 100 security robots and is preparing to expand its services.
"Undaunted Robotic Security aided in the investigation by providing video of one suspect," Sgt. Elise Wells, a public information officer for the DeKalb County Police Department told Newsweek in a statement. "The video was one piece of evidence detectives used to identify and arrest the suspects."
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Interest in the machines surged last week after a clip of a four-legged robot patrolling an Atlanta apartment complex was viewed more than 2 million times on X.
Behind the devices, known within the company as "Oppys," is a security operation combining remotely controlled robots, fixed property cameras and human monitoring. Many of the operators work from a "Mission Control Center" in the Philippines.
Why It Matters
The police statement offers a rare documented example of evidence gathered through a privately operated robot-security system contributing to a serious criminal investigation.
It also highlights the broader implications of moving security work from on-site guards to remote workers who can patrol residential communities, address residents through two-way audio and relay video to law enforcement.
What To Know About the Shooting
Police were called to the scene just south of I-20 in Gresham Park, an unincorporated community southeast of Atlanta, at about 3:55 a.m. following reports of a drive-by shooting on July 2.
Demarcus Shirley, 13, and Chauncey Newman, 45, were found dead from gunshot wounds, as well as the dog.
One suspect, a teenager, faces two counts of murder, seven counts of aggravated assault and two alleged violations of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, said police.
Webb faces two murder counts, eight counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, aggravated cruelty to an animal and two alleged violations of the state’s gang law.
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Several people were inside when shots were fired into the building, but the others were unharmed, police told Atlanta News First.
Shirley’s great-uncle, Gregory Carthon, told the outlet that the 13-year-old did not live at the home and had been staying there for a sleepover with friends.
A July announcement from the police department said video from a robotic system had assisted detectives in identifying and arresting a murder suspect, without naming the victims, defendants, or investigation.
Police said the privately owned systems are not continuously monitored by the department, and that access is controlled by departmental policies, audits and individual accountability measures.
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Undaunted says Atlanta Police Department statistics show that crime declined after it deployed its systems at a separate location, 445 Cleveland Avenue, although a police spokesperson cautioned against attributing the decline to "one singular thing," telling Newsweek that law enforcement officers provide a broad range of services and remain active in the community.
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Newsweek has submitted an open records request to the Atlanta Police Department for the underlying incident and calls-for-service records to verify Undaunted's claims of a crime reduction.
Newsweek phoned the labor union United Federation of LEOS-PBA Georgia and left a voicemail, and emailed the privacy watchdog Electronic Frontier Foundation to seek their positions on the robotic security guards and is awaiting responses.
A Viral Robot With A Human Voice
Interest in Undaunted accelerated after footage posted by Matt Van Swol, a former nuclear scientist for the U.S. Department of Energy, showed a quadruped robot moving through an apartment complex at night and speaking to people through an onboard sound system.
The machine’s appearance prompted online speculation that autonomous or artificially intelligent robots were beginning to replace human security guards.
But the reality is more complicated.
Remote human workers operate the devices, inspect camera feeds, speak directly to residents and decide whether an incident should be escalated.
Undaunted describes its service as combining robotic patrols with two-way audio and live human oversight.
"Factually, we are replacing their security guard contractors with our own human-operated robots that do a better job at half the price," founder and CEO Bryan Dinner told Newsweek. Dinner said the company’s base package costs $40,000 annually for eight hours of daily coverage.
At published rates of $18 to $32 an hour from Atlanta-based Reliable Security Staffing, eight hours of daily guard coverage would cost approximately $52,600 to $93,400 a year, according to a Newsweek calculation. Actual contract prices may vary.
Dinner argued that a remotely operated machine could approach a potentially dangerous situation without exposing an on-site guard to immediate risk.
Its ability to move around a property and connect with fixed cameras could also help operators detect incidents across a larger area, he said.
"It’s definitely safer to have one of our operators on the other side of the robot, and it’s going to more consistently detect things across the property," he said.
Operators can speak with people through two-way audio, beginning with a friendly request before issuing warnings or contacting police if a situation escalates.
Dinner said the machines carry no offensive equipment and cannot physically restrain anyone. Each property has at least two robots, he added.
A unit can operate for about two hours before returning to a charging station, known inside the company as a "doghouse," for a similar period.
"We originally made them out of steel because we were really nervous that people were going to mess with them," Dinner said. "But you know, the majority of people on these properties are people that live there, and they don't really mess with the robots pretty much ever."
He pointed to the fact that the devices were human-operated as an effective deterrent, highlighting how human operators can speak directly with people to resolve innocent situations without calling police, while cameras and license-plate footage prevent vandalism by making offenders identifiable.
During an emergency, one unit can remain near the incident while another travels to the entrance to guide responding officers through the property.
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More Than 100 Robots And A Texas Expansion
Undaunted announced on October 21 that it had passed 100 deployed robots, all operating within metro Atlanta.
The company describes the operation as the largest active robotic-security fleet in the United States, although that claim has not been independently verified.
The startup, founded in January 2025, is now preparing to expand into Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, according to its announcement.
Approximately 70 percent of its current client properties are apartment communities, Dinner told Newsweek. The remainder include other commercial sites.
The company also claims that one Atlanta property saves $75,000 annually on security and that residential burglaries, motor-vehicle theft and firearms incidents declined after its system was introduced.
The Person Behind The Dog
When a robot speaks to someone at an Atlanta apartment complex, the voice may belong to Dalyn Pawaan, beginning her day thousands of miles away in the Philippines.
Pawaan joined Undaunted in April 2025 as its first operator after almost seven years in business-process outsourcing. She has since become a senior team lead at the company’s Mission Control Center.
"There’s always a person behind those dogs," she told Newsweek in a phone call.
Pawaan said the Philippine operation has approximately 78 people controlling robots and monitoring client-camera feeds around the clock. A smaller number work from Atlanta.
She described the role as an opportunity to move beyond conventional customer-service work and gain experience with an unfamiliar technology.
"The trust and belief in us that we can do this job for them, it’s really great," Pawaan said. "It has changed not only my life but all the operators that we have here in the Philippines."
Operators watch fixed cameras alongside live pictures from the robot’s point of view. If they see a suspected break-in or another incident, they can deploy the nearest unit, call 911 and track events while updating emergency dispatchers.
Early robots were controlled through mobile phones, Pawaan said. Her team now uses controllers connected to computers.
Residents hear the remote operator’s real voice through the machine’s speakers.
"It’s not autonomous. It’s not AI," she said, emphasizing the human conversation behind each encounter.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Trevor Davies