TEXAS, USA — Aug. 31, 2019 is a day that Midland and Odessa will never forget. The day seven people died in a mobile mass shooting.
It was a day full of confusion for everyone. Two years and one day later, the hope is that with a new alert system in place, something like that never happens again.
Texas House of Representatives member Brooks Landgraf decided to make that a reality by introducing legislation that would create an Active Shooter Alert System.
The goal is simple, to save lives and prevent mass violence by notifying the public of nearby active shooter situations and encouraging them to either avoid the area or shelter in place.
"We wanted to do two things," Landgraf said. "We wanted to be able to help push back against the scourge of mass shootings while also protecting the constitutional rights of law abiding Texans, and I think that this measure does exactly that, and we had a lot of support from our communities in west Texas."
It will be similar to other alerts DPS puts out. DPS will issue an Active Shooter Alert when a requesting agency or entity submits a request for an event that meets the requirements.
These are the requirements:
- An active shooter is in the requesting agency’s jurisdiction.
- Determination that an Active Shooter Alert would assist individuals near the active shooter’s location.
- Verification exists of the active shooter situation through a preliminary investigation by the requesting agency.
- The active shooter’s last known location is identifiable.
All of this was done to honor those who died two years ago.
"We did this in memory of all of those victims, and this is a way for their memories to live on in a positive way and in a way that’s going to be able to save lives," Landgraf said.