DEPLOYDatabase

Incident · Injury

Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center

A Knightscope K5 patrolling the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California collided with a 16-month-old boy, knocking him down and running over one foot, which left minor swelling and a scrape. Accounts differ: the family said the robot drove into the child, while Knightscope said the child ran into the robot as it changed course. The mall suspended the robots pending investigation.

Occurred 2016-07-07 · Knightscope K5 · Knightscope

Track Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (3)

  1. Palo Alto Online · https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/07/13/parents-upset-after-stanford-shopping-center-security-robot-knocks-down-child/ · 2016-07-13
  2. CNBC · https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/14/investigation-begins-on-robot-security-after-child-is-hurt.html · 2016-07-14
  3. CNN Money · https://money.cnn.com/2016/07/14/technology/robot-stanford-mall/index.html · 2016-07-14

Common questions

What happened in Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center?
A Knightscope K5 patrolling the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California collided with a 16-month-old boy, knocking him down and running over one foot, which left minor swelling and a scrape. Accounts differ: the family said the robot drove into the child, while Knightscope said the child ran into the robot as it changed course. The mall suspended the robots pending investigation.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on July 7, 2016 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
What robot was involved in Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center?
Knightscope K5 by Knightscope is the recorded robot involved in this incident.
Has anyone responded to Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-12

Verification posture

Verified

Medium confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-12

Sources by quality tier

2
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
secondary-established-publication
Established publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Knightscope K5 struck and ran over a toddler at Stanford Shopping Center.

Deploy Watch

Track this incident.

We notify you when the regulator updates the record, the remedy status changes, or a related incident surfaces.

Canonical ID 0c03e094-f7d3-4619-a931-cd35915ee97e