ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — A "shelter-in-place" message erroneously sent throughout Hennepin County Monday evening was intended to only go to residents within a one-block radius of a domestic situation in Robbinsdale, according to officials.
According to the Robbinsdale Police Department, officers were called to the 3600 block of West Broadway for an "armed domestic situation" at around 6:45 p.m. A shelter-in-place alert, which police say is standard protocol, was intended only to be distributed to nearby residents, however, it was sent across Hennepin County.
"This was to be sent to the impacted residences on the block. However, it was sent, unintentionally, to the entire Hennepin County," said Robbinsdale Police in a press release. "Residents in this block should shelter in place until 10:00 pm. There is no need for anyone outside of this block to shelter in place any longer."
On Tuesday, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office explained the alert was sent as a result of "human error at HCSO's Emergency Communications Facility (ECF)." According to a news release, the shelter-in-place warning was supposed to be issued via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), but instead was sent using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which resulted in an alert broadcast across Twin Cities television stations.
HCSO said the staff member responsible is certified by FEMA, and the department "has identified the step in the alert process that resulted in the mistake." The department is updating its standard operating procedures and also plans to contact the software developer "with a suggested fix to make this type of error less likely."
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