APP SYSTEM- FALSE ALERTS
"UT Tyler disables emergency app after false active shooter alerts."
Texas University Tyler, Feb 2107, Instant Alert Network App. A student inadvertently set off the Alert App, creating an immediate lockdown. According to the schools PIO, “the issuer didn't even know that she had done it.” After the initial alert, reports of gun shots fired in the nursing building followed which sparked a second activation. They gunshots were mistaken for a dropped book.
"An active shooter alert was sent to students and staff at a Maryland college. It was a mistake." --
Montgomery College, MD School Guard App. A staffer accidentally triggered the alert from her cell phone when she thought the app was in test mode. Phone calls needed to made to the police department to notify them of the mistake. 37 Officers were in the process of responding when they were cancelled.
https://www.securitysales.com/fire-intrusion/active-shooter-alert-app-triggers-false-florida/
"Second false alarm indicating Active Shooter at Montgomery College in under Two Years."
An alert about an active shooter sent to thousands of Montgomery College students and faculty members early Friday morning was a false alarm, the school said — the second one in less than two years. The school said a staff training exercise was to blame for Friday’s erroneous message.
"Merriam Cherry Street Elementary-Active Shooter app false alert."
Merriam Cherry Street Elementary, March 2018. School Guard App. A staffer accidentally triggered the alert from her cell phone when she thought the app was in test mode. Phone calls needed to made to the police department to notify them of the mistake. 37 Officers were in the process of responding when they were cancelled.
https://www.securitysales.com/fire-intrusion/active-shooter-alert-app-triggers-false-florida/
"UNCW says user error was the cause of inadvertent 'shots fired' alert."
WILMINGTON, NC (WECT)- February 2017. UNCW officials said user error during a routine training session was the cause of an inadvertent "shots fired" alert that was sent out campus-wide. The university apologized for the false alarm in a statement issued later in the day.
Samuel Gaines Academy, St Lucie County, FL- False Alert
In the fall of 2019, training on the VOLO App was being conducted at a local school in St. Lucie County. The app was inadvertently activated which created a response from local law enforcement agencies in the county.
"False 'active shooter' alerts cause chaos, danger."
Baltimore Sun Article, March 2018- "Erroneous warnings erode a community’s confidence in public safety and other emergency management personnel who must maintain credibility to ensure their crisis and risk communication efforts are effective in a disaster. Few communication mistakes do greater damage than an active shooter-related gaffe."
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0313-shooter-warning-20180312-story.html