Frustrated Texans react to early morning Blue Alert for Seth Altman
-Texas Department of Public Safety
Texans got an unexpected wake-up call early Friday morning when authorities issued a Blue Alert for 33-year-old Seth Altman, wanted in connection with the shooting of a law enforcement officer in Memphis, Texas.
A Blue Alert, which informs the public when a law enforcement officer has been injured or killed, woke people across the state, many of whom were nowhere near Memphis. While intended to keep people safe, it had the side effect of seriously annoying many Texans.
No better alarm clock than a blue alert amirite pic.twitter.com/kgZetYAU5t
Texans, never ones to hold back, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to vent their frustration.
Me and the boys after getting woken up at 5 am to look for the guy who shot a cop. Thank you blue alert!!!! pic.twitter.com/qWNYvMN1li
One user, clearly unimpressed, quipped: "Blue alerts should be illegal. A cop being injured 6 and a half hours away is not an emergency. Being in the path of a tornado, wildfire, or meteor—now that’s alert-worthy."
Blue alerts should be illegal. A cop being injured 6 and a half hours away is not an emergency. Being in the direct path of a tornado, wildfire, tsunami, hurricane, or flood is the only reason an emergency alert should be blasting at 4:50am. Meteors and ICBMs? Just let me sleep. pic.twitter.com/oiWjlUmUpc
Another, equally annoyed, said, "Seth Altman, turn yourself in bc if I get another alert, I’m gonna be wanted for some criminal activity as well."
Many people had no idea where Hall County was, prompting a quick geography lesson before they could even comprehend the message. One user vented on X: "There is no need to have a Blue Alert alarm go off on our phones when we live hours and hours and hours away. Texas needs to fix this crap. Hall County needed to be looked up to see where it was. Get out of here with that."
The sentiment was echoed by a parent who tweeted, "This alert woke my family, including a small child. Hall County is 8 hours away. We thought it was an imminent tornado. Someone needs to be fired."
Adding a bit of Texas humor, another user remarked, "Thought Seth Altman was hiding out in my home the way this alert went off."
And perhaps summing it up best, one user simply said, "Seth Altman just pissed off the entire state of Texas."
RELATED