Hawaii employee who accidentally sent out missile alert reassigned

<p>The employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency who pushed the wrong button accidentally sending out a missile alert has been reassigned.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jan 15, 2018, 11:03 AM

Updated 2,299 days ago

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The employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency who pushed the wrong button accidentally sending out a missile alert has been reassigned.
Roughly 30 minutes later, another alert was sent out, saying the first message was sent out by mistake, but before that, parts of the state were sent into panic.
People ran for cover, and many hid, as they tried to get more information about what was going on.
"I banged on their door and said 'guys get up!' For real we gotta get out of here, we already know we have only 15 minutes," says college student Austin Coleman.
According to the state, during a shift change, the employee selected an incorrect template, choosing one that would typically only be sent internally.
Another problem lawmakers are dealing with is some people didn't get "either" alert, the false one or the correction.
"That is one of the questions that we are asking, why is it that some people didn't get the message on their phones, we want to understand which carriers delivered the message and whether all of their subscribers received the message, same thing,” says Gov. David Ige. “We want to be clear about who received the message and who didn't."
The federal government is getting involved in the investigation.


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