Texas authorities have issued a Blue Alert this Friday morning (October 4) for a man accused of shooting a police chief multiple times.
The statewide manhunt has started for the suspect identified as Seth Altman, a 33-year-old last seen in the 200 block of South 4th Street in Memphis, Texas at 11:04 pm Thursday night.
Officials of the Texas Department of Public Safety have confirmed that the man is wanted for being involved in the killing or serious injury of the law enforcement agent, and provided details of his appearance.
Highlights
- Blue Alert issued for Seth Altman for shooting a police chief in Texas.
- Seth Altman, 33, last seen in Memphis, TX, wearing blue t-shirt and jeans.
- Statewide hunt for Altman, deemed a serious risk to public and personnel.
- Blue Alert triggers statewide phone alarms, prompting mixed public response.
Seth Altman is a red-haired, blue-eyed, 6’2 (187cm) tall man. He weighs approximately 220 lbs. (99.7 kilograms) and was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt and jeans.
Texas launches a statewide manhunt for Seth Altman, a 33-year-old man accused of shooting and murdering a police chief
Image credits: krld news radio
The Blue Alert is an alert issued to all phones statewide any time an officer is killed or seriously hurt by an offender. Law enforcement must determine that the offender poses a serious risk to the public and other personnel, and provide a detailed description of his appearance, and possible vehicle information before the information is broadcast to the public.
Image credits: krld news radio
Alongside the time necessary to collect and confirm the accuracy of the data surrounding the suspect, the agency responsible for jurisdiction must recommend the activation of the alert to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which explains the delay between the incident and the alarm going off.
Image credits: Ronn Lippman
Texas citizens were woken up before 5am to the sound of the loud government-issued alarm, with many expressing both their concern and annoyance on social media
Image credits: USA Today
“Totally unacceptable to blast alerts at this hour. You have no right to intrusively blast sirens on our private phones while we sleep. Who approved this?” asked one user on X.
“Waking the whole state up before 5:00 am for something that happened at 11:00 last night is a sure fire way to get everyone to turn off their government alerts,” argued another.
The statewide nature of the alarm and the size of Texas meant that some citizens were as far as 300 miles from Hall County, located in the northern district, and started filing complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
"There's nowhere to hide Seth Altman," wrote one citizen, as others joined in to help officials track down the criminal
Image credits: jkaystars
Image credits: Mrsean135123
Image credits: sathiya0908
Image credits: anne92833
Image credits: Seantaj
Image credits: matthopkins_
Image credits: realmikespeer
Image credits: prcabuck
Image credits: ConnieDeckard