City of Boise employee accidentally triggered active shooter alert, spokesman says

BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — The city of Boise is apologizing after an employee mistakenly sent out an active shooter alert Thursday morning.

A spokesman says the alert went to just over 1,000 City of Boise employees. It warned of an active shooter at Hawthorne Elementary School.

The message was sent out at 8:51 this morning, he says.

Five minutes after the original alert, the City sent out an "all-clear" message.

A spokesman for the Boise School District says he received the notification and quickly realized it was incorrect. The District later sent a memo to staff and to parents clarifying that the alert was a mistake by a city employee.

The City of Boise spokesman says the alert was triggered by a community center employee working at Hawthorne Elementary. The city has a number of community centers stationed at schools, staffed by city employees.

He says it appears the employee accidentally activated the app that sends out emergency alerts.

The spokesman for the Boise School District says the alert was not sent out by the district. He says the district has its own procedures when emergencies happen.

"We regret that this happened. We certainly apologize for any concerns that this created among school administrators, teachers, parents, and students," the spokesman for the City of Boise said. "It was clearly an accident."

He also says the city will take another look at the system to make sure they're doing what they can to prevent this from happening in the future.

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