ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Roanoke County officials are apologizing for a test alert message about an escaped inmate that was mistakenly sent to about 30,000 households and businesses.
County officials say in a news release that the message generated by the county’s new emergency alert system was supposed to go to a test group of about 300 people. Instead, it was sent Tuesday morning across the county by phone, text and email.
After the message was stopped, a follow-up message was sent to notify recipients that the first message was a test and there was no escaped inmate.
Most members of the test group are county employees. They’ve been participating in testing of the system.
