AUSTN (KXAN) — A violent Wednesday morning in Austin prompted a manhunt that ended a block away from Barton Hills Elementary school where police said a homeowner shot and killed a gunman accused of shooting a woman and a police officer near Zilker Park.
As this unfolded, various alerts went out to area cellphones. Some came from the Austin Police Department, others came from the Austin Independent School District.
“The message shared by APD was crafted and shared by APD using Warn Central Texas. A radius was used and those signed up for the notification system within that determined radius were notified,” APD said in a statement. The department didn’t say how far the radius extended.
If an alert is sent using Warn Central Texas, you’ll only receive it if you’re enrolled in the program.
Police Chief Lisa Davis said the homeowner who shot the subject was signed up for the alerts.
“I saw him on my way up the elevator and he stopped me and he said ‘I want to tell you, that shelter in place, it saved my life, it saved my family,'” she said. “Because of that, I was prepared. So when you’re looking at what this is capable of doing, it does save lives.”
She also addressed “serious concerns” she had about an alert going on saying a shelter-in-place had been lifted when police still hadn’t found the suspect.
Currently, the City of Austin does not have the authority to send text message alerts to people without going through the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) via Warn Central Texas, but the city could soon have the authority to send alerts out similar to Amber Alerts, because Austin is in the process of becoming what’s called an “alerting authority.”
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