LUBBOCK, Texas — With a mere glance, the notification millions of Texans got Wednesday night and Thursday morning could appear to be an AMBER Alert, but it was actually a Blue Alert.
A Blue Alert is sent out when someone in law enforcement is injured or killed and the suspect is on the run.
People around Lubbock like store employee Kaylee Pierce saw the alert, but some were confused about what a Blue Alert meant.
“It was later at night and it woke me up because it’s really loud,” Pierce said. “I looked at it and I didn’t know what a Blue Alert was because I’ve never heard of that.”
Lubbock resident Murphy Coon felt a similar way.
“I read them and at first I wasn’t really sure what a Blue Alert was, but then after kind of reading through the description, it’s like ‘Okay, they got to hunt this guy down,’” Coon said.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) sent the alerts to let the public know about 34-year-old Terran Green who is accused of shooting a Harris County deputy on Wednesday. While this incident happened hundreds of miles away from Lubbock, all of Texas got the alert because the person was on the move and considered to be armed and dangerous, according to DPS.
“We put that alert out because, you know, usually if this person is willing to do that kind of harm to your public servant or an officer then they’ll hurt anybody. There’s danger out there to the public,” Sgt. Johnny Bures with Texas DPS said.
While the incident might seem far away or sleep sounds more appealing, Bures said it’s important not to ignore the alert.
“Please don’t disregard these messages and just think ‘Well, you know, that’s not my area that doesn’t pertain to me … I don’t live close to Houston.’ Because we get them in the middle of the night they could very well be here,” Bures said. “These are still our fellow Texans and our kiddos and our law enforcement …. they’re needing help so please don’t disregard that.”
If someone does happen to miss the alert, Bures said they can find updates on the Texas Alerts Twitter account. Bures also said the suspect in this particular Blue Alert still hasn’t been found, and to stay on the lookout.
