Residents of Halle County, Texas, woke up in the middle of the night to a blue alert as police searched for a dangerous fugitive.
Seth Altman, 33, is wanted for allegedly shooting Memphis Police Chief Rex Plant while he and another officer were trying to arrest him for attempted robbery around 11 p.m. in Memphis on Thursday, according to News 4 San Antonio.
A blue alert is a text warning from authorities to residents informing them that someone possibly involved in killing or seriously injuring a police officer is on the loose. Residents are told not to approach the suspect and to call 911.
The alert was issued early Friday morning and Altman was last seen in Memphis, Texas, around 11 p.m.
Plant was reportedly heading toward the back door when Altman came out and shot him multiple times, according to News 4.
Seth Altman, 33, (pictured) is wanted for allegedly shooting Memphis Police Chief Rex Plant while he and another officer were trying to arrest him for attempted robbery around 11 p.m. in Memphis on Thursday. Texas residents received a blue alert around 5 a.m.
Plant (pictured) was reportedly heading toward the back door when Altman came out and shot him multiple times. Plant was flown to a hospital in Lubbock and is said to be in stable condition.
Plant was airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock and is said to be in stable condition, according to local media.
Police said Altman is armed and dangerous, according to News 4 San Antonio.
He has been described as 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds, with blue eyes and auburn hair, wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.
The Blue Alert Program was created in 2008 to help quickly apprehend dangerous suspects, according to USA today.
For the alert to be issued, an officer must have been killed or seriously injured, authorities must believe the suspect poses a serious risk to the public, and a description of the suspect’s vehicle must be available.
Although blue alerts, like others such as amber, are intended to help keep the public safe and informed, many residents were furious to be woken up.
“Why the entire state of Texas needs to be alerted… I still don’t know,” said one X user wrote.
‘It is totally unacceptable to issue alerts at this time. You have no right to intrusively sound sirens on our private phones while we sleep. Who approved this? other he complained.
A blue alert is a text warning from authorities to residents informing them that someone possibly involved in killing or seriously injuring a police officer is on the loose. Residents are told not to approach the suspect and to call 911.
“Waking up the entire state before 5 a.m. because of something that happened last night at 11 a.m. is a sure-fire way to get everyone to turn off government alerts,” he said. third lined.
“Why was I pulled out of my dreams for this when this happened eight hours away from me and my phone was on DND?” a fourth complained.
“Someone better find Seth Altman because they didn’t wake me up in vain,” Brooke Hamilton wrote in Facebook.
“Seth Altman just pissed off the entire state of Texas by scaring us at 5 in the morning,” Steven Bazán wrote on Facebook.
Gina Flores wrote on the platform: ‘Seth Altman, you better hope the police find you and not me!! Losing sleep over your sorry ass. Seriously, I’m praying for the injured officers and for the arrest of this criminal!!’
‘Seth Altman (is) the most hated man in Texas today!’ Lauren Przybly wrote.
As of Friday morning, Altman has not been arrested.