Shortly after many Minnesotans received an Amber Alert message on Friday, about the search for two children and a kidnapping suspect from Cottage Grove, residents of the town's Hidden Valley neighborhood received another message.
It's known as a Code Red.
"For me it was a phone call," said Melinda Weber.
"I got an email," said Steve Weber.
For more than 20 years, the Webers have lived in the quiet neighborhood, but on Friday morning they welcomed the jolt the messages provided.
"It prompted me to go out and lock, make sure all my doors were locked to make sure we were safe," Melinda Weber said. "And then I was kind of looking out our windows to see if I could help the police to find what they were looking for."
The Code Red messaging system is in place throughout Washington County. It allows local police departments to send emergency alerts to specific neighborhoods.
On Friday, it helped give neighbors more detailed information after police located a vehicle and began a search on foot.
Officers are in the are of 65TH St S to 80th ST S/Hwy 61 to Jamaica Ave S looking for a suspect in an Amber Alert. Suspect is 25 year old Asian male about 5'5, 180 pounds with dark hair. Suspect is believed to be armed with a gun and with two small children ages 1 year old and 3 years old. Do not approach. Call 9-1-1 immediately.
"This is exactly the use we want for it," said Cottage Grove Police Chief, Peter Koerner. "It goes from 75 officers in the area with a perimeter, to hundreds of people that are watching for us."
Within minutes, neighbors began calling 911 to report sightings.
"The citizen involvement was huge," Koerner said. "As soon as we found out we were having sightings, that was able to draw a lot of resources to the area and set up the perimeter," he said.
Soon after that, officers were able to make an arrest and rescue the two young children, unharmed.
The Code Red system is something that any resident of Washington County can opt into here.
Many other counties or cities also have similar alert systems. If you have questions about where you live, call your local department or visit their website.