Evolv Technologies, the maker of the AI-powered Evolv Express weapons scanner, is defending or resolving four major legal matters tied to its screening system: a Federal Trade Commission enforcement action that ended in a December 2024 consent order, a securities fraud class action headed for a proposed $15 million settlement, an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, and a personal injury lawsuit brought by a New York high school student stabbed after a knife passed undetected through an Evolv scanner. Together, the Evolv weapons detection lawsuits center on the same underlying allegation — that the company oversold what its scanners could actually do.
What Evolv Sold and Why It Drew Scrutiny
Evolv went public in July 2021 through a SPAC merger with NewHold Investment Corp. and began trading on NASDAQ as EVLV.1Evolv Technology. Evolv Technology to Become Publicly Traded Through Merger With NewHold Investment Corp Its flagship product, the Evolv Express, is a walk-through system that uses sensors, computer vision, and machine learning to flag concealed weapons while letting people pass without emptying pockets or opening bags.2MarketBeat. Evolv Technologies Highlights Q1 Growth, Raised Outlook, and AI Screening Push
Evolv marketed the system as able to detect “all weapons,” create “weapons-free zones,” and cut security labor costs by 70 percent.3FTC. FTC Takes Action Against Evolv Technologies for Deceiving Users About Its AI-Powered Security Screening School districts became major buyers, with more than 65 districts spending over $45 million on AI gun-detection technology since 2018.4The Intercept. AI Gun Weapons Detection Schools Evolv Documented failures in those school deployments became the factual backbone of the lawsuits that followed.
The FTC Case and Settlement
The Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 in November 2024 to sue Evolv in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging deceptive marketing of the Evolv Express.3FTC. FTC Takes Action Against Evolv Technologies for Deceiving Users About Its AI-Powered Security Screening
The complaint targeted four categories of claims. Evolv said the system would detect “all weapons” and create “weapons-free zones,” despite documented failures to detect knives and, in one case, a service revolver. It said the scanner would ignore harmless personal items, but users reported repeated false alarms on laptops, binders, and water bottles. It advertised low false alarm rates while the Utica school district saw a 50 percent false alarm rate after raising sensitivity following a knife stabbing. And it claimed a 70 percent labor cost reduction while the company’s own 2023 guidance recommended conveyor belts, manual item diversion, and additional staffing that effectively replicated a traditional metal detector workflow.3FTC. FTC Takes Action Against Evolv Technologies for Deceiving Users About Its AI-Powered Security Screening
A federal judge approved a consent order in December 2024. Evolv admitted no wrongdoing.5CBS News Colorado. Company False Claims Weapons Detection System Colorado STEM School The settlement imposed no monetary fine but permanently bars the company from making unsubstantiated claims about weapon detection, ignoring harmless items, false alarm rates, screening speed, or labor savings compared to traditional metal detectors. Any future performance claim must be supported by “competent and reliable evidence” when made. Compliance and reporting obligations run for 10 years.6FTC. Evolv Consent Order Filed
The order also gave certain K-12 school customers a way out of their contracts. Districts that signed with Evolv between April 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, received 60 days to cancel without further financial obligation beyond fees already due. Schools that had participated in a 30-day pre-purchase trial, bought 15 or more units, or added units more than 45 days after initial deployment were excluded from that cancellation right.7NBC Chicago. Settlement Approved Evolv Weapons Detector Company FTC
The Utica High School Stabbing Lawsuit
On October 31, 2022, a student at Thomas R. Proctor High School in Utica, New York, carried a large hunting-style knife through an Evolv Express scanner without setting off an alarm and then stabbed classmate Ehni Ler Htoo. Htoo suffered stab wounds to his back, shoulder, face, head, and right hand and needed surgery for nerve damage.8IPVM. Ehni Ler Htoo v. Evolv Technologies Complaint Earlier that same month, an off-duty Utica police officer had walked through the same scanners twice with a service revolver, and the system missed the firearm both times. Evolv responded by advising the district to raise sensitivity settings.4The Intercept. AI Gun Weapons Detection Schools Evolv
After the stabbing, the Utica City School District removed the scanners. The superintendent told a school board meeting that the system “does not detect metal objects and was not designed to detect knives.”9WBNS-10TV. Ohio Stadiums, Schools Weigh Purchasing Weapons Detectors That May Miss Certain Items The district had spent roughly $4 million on the installation and another $250,000 to replace it.4The Intercept. AI Gun Weapons Detection Schools Evolv
Htoo filed suit in November 2023 in New York Supreme Court, Oneida County. Defendants are Evolv Technologies, distributor Day Automation Systems, the Utica City School District, and the City of Utica. The complaint alleges negligence, strict products liability, breach of express and implied warranties, failure to warn, and deceptive marketing practices, and says Evolv marketed the system to Utica as able to detect “all the guns, all the bombs and all the large tactical knives.”8IPVM. Ehni Ler Htoo v. Evolv Technologies Complaint The City of Utica has denied liability, with its first assistant corporation counsel saying the city “had no involvement with the Evolv system.”10City & State NY. Company Behind Gun Detection Tech Faces Multiple Lawsuits and Federal Investigations The case is still pending.
The Securities Class Action and Proposed $15 Million Settlement
Investors sued Evolv after disclosures raised questions about both its product claims and its accounting. The consolidated case sits before Judge Allison D. Burroughs in the District of Massachusetts as Case No. 24-cv-10761, with a class period running from June 28, 2021, through October 25, 2024. Plaintiffs alleged Evolv misled the market about the Express system, its testing results, its contracting practices, and its financial reporting.11Bloomberg Law. Security Tech Firm Evolv Settles Investor Claims for $15 Million
The parties reached a proposed $15 million class settlement in April 2026. The court granted preliminary approval on April 16, 2026. The claims deadline is August 12, 2026, and a final approval hearing is scheduled for September 24, 2026.12Evolv Tech Securities Settlement. Evolv Technologies Holdings Securities Litigation Settlement13Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check. Evolv Technologies Holdings Securities Fraud Class Action
The SEC Investigation and Financial Restatement
The SEC opened a non-public, fact-finding inquiry into Evolv in early 2024, examining whether the company made false statements to investors about its AI technology and product capabilities. Evolv disclosed the inquiry on February 19, 2024.14GlobeNewsWire. Evolv Technologies Hit With Securities Class Action After Disclosing SEC Investigation
On October 25, 2024, Evolv announced that its financial statements from the second quarter of 2022 through the second quarter of 2024 should no longer be relied upon. An ad hoc committee of independent directors, advised by Debevoise & Plimpton and forensic accountants at Ankura Consulting Group, found that certain sales — including one with a major channel partner — involved “extra-contractual terms and conditions” that had been concealed from Evolv’s accounting department, audit committee, and independent auditor. Premature or incorrect revenue recognition was preliminarily estimated at $4 million to $6 million on a net basis. The stock fell roughly 40 percent in a single session, from $4.10 to $2.47.15Sports Business Journal. Evolv Technology Financial Reporting16Newsfile Corp. EVLV Shareholders Investors Urged to Contact BFA Law About Class Action Lawsuit
Five days later, the board terminated CEO Peter George “without cause,” and co-founder Michael Ellenbogen returned as interim CEO.17Inc. Security Tech Company Evolv Fires CEO Peter George CFO Mark Donohue resigned effective November 21, 2024. Four additional employees in sales, accounting, and finance were terminated or resigned in connection with the misconduct findings.18CFO Dive. Evolv CFO Latest to Depart Amid Misconduct, Revenue Misstatement Investigation The SEC investigation remains ongoing.
The NCS4 Report Allegations Behind the Cases
Much of the factual record cited in both the personal injury suit and the securities case traces back to a testing white paper produced by the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security, or NCS4, at the University of Southern Mississippi. Evolv paid for and participated in the exercise. An unredacted version later obtained by the trade publication IPVM showed detection shortcomings absent from the public version.
The full report recorded a 92 percent detection rate for micro-compact pistols, down from 100 percent in earlier, less rigorous testing, and a 53 percent overall knife detection rate, with some knife types missed entirely. The system was described as “unable to detect any non-ferrous metals,” meaning plastic explosives and 3D-printed firearms would pass undetected.19IPVM. Evolv Express NCS4 Report Analysis
Internal documents cited by IPVM showed that Evolv executives, including VP of Technical Sales Rick Abraham and Chief Marketing Officer Dana Loof, participated in drafting at least 14 versions of the report and used track changes to delete negative findings, including the knife detection failures, the non-ferrous metal finding, and evaluator comments calling the knife detection “unreliable.” The published version reported an overall score of 2.84 out of 3.00, achieved partly by grouping eight ferrous metal tests into a single category and weighting weapon detection equally with peripheral metrics like email notifications. NCS4 Executive Director Stacey Hall said Evolv did not make “direct edits” and that evaluators approved changes to their own comments; Loof denied requesting score changes, though IPVM cited email evidence to the contrary.20IPVM. NCS4 Sponsorships and Evolv Report
What This Means for Schools Using Evolv Scanners
If a K-12 district signed with Evolv between April 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, the FTC consent order gave it 60 days from the notification to cancel without further financial obligation beyond fees already due, unless the district ran a 30-day pre-purchase trial, bought 15 or more units, or expanded more than 45 days after initial deployment.7NBC Chicago. Settlement Approved Evolv Weapons Detector Company FTC Contracts outside that window are not covered by the FTC’s cancellation window.
Many large districts have chosen to keep or expand the systems. Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville is moving forward with a five-year, $17.8 million lease signed in October 2023; a spokesperson said after the FTC complaint that “nothing has changed on our end.”21WAVE 3 News. JCPS Moving Forward With Weapons Detection Systems After Supplier Sued by FTC Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia approved a $19.36 million contract in July 2025, described by Evolv as its largest to date.22WSB-TV. Gwinnett County BOE Approves $19.36 Million Spending Increase for Weapons Detectors Mansfield ISD in Texas installed the systems in August 2024 at a cost of about $2.3 million and said it planned to continue using them despite the FTC litigation.23Fort Worth Report. Feds File Lawsuit Against Maker of AI-Powered Weapons Screener Used in Mansfield ISD
Evolv itself now says publicly that there is “no perfect security solution” and positions the Express as part of a “layered approach” involving human operators, adjustable sensitivity settings, and secondary screening.24Evolv Technology. Evolv Technology Corrects Misinformation About the Company Under the FTC order, that kind of hedged language, backed by evidence, is now the only kind the company is permitted to use.