Police Dispatch Recordings Show Confusion And Fear After False Missile Alert

Residents of Hawaii had the scare of their lives Saturday when they received a text message that a ballistic missile missing was incoming and to seek shelter.

https://thegoldwater.com/news/16026-Incompetent-Hawaii-Sends-Out-Mistaken-Incoming-Ballistic-Missile-Alert

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HAWAII - THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE. <a href="https://t.co/DxfTXIDOQs">pic.twitter.com/DxfTXIDOQs</a></p>&mdash; Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/952243723525677056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Shortly after the alert was sent to residents in a text message, Hawaii Governor David Ige said that the alert was an error and likely attributed to any employee who "pushed the wrong button."

Now, recordings of Honolulu Police Department dispatch show just how scared everyone was. Officers can be heard radioing into dispatch to inquire about the text message and asking what to tell the people flagging them down for help.

One officer said, "We're getting flagged down by a lot of people for that, asking where the nearest shelter is." Another officer says, "Is that real? The text I got?"

The dispatcher responds, "Working on it now." The alert was received by all 1.4 million of Hawaii's residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors. The panic lasted more than 30 minutes before a correction was sent out.

In the dispatch recording, one officer can be heard saying "If you guys gotta use your PAs on the white cars, go ahead. Don't be shame about it. We don't want everybody panicking."

The dispatcher soon confirmed the alert was false, "OK, we're getting a message, state warning point saying it was only supposed to be a drill, they sent out the wrong message. They are working on sending out a correction now."

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https:%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHawaiiNewsNow%2Fvideos%2F10155872276790479%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

<i>On Twitter:</i>

<a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction">@ErvinProduction</a>

Tips? Info? Send me a message!

Source: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37270508/police-dispatch-recordings-show-confusion-fear-after-missile-alert-mistake