Texas school shooting alert system has yet to be activated, DPS says

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After the fatal shooting at a Juneteenth rally in Round Rock, a warning system designed to warn the public of rampages was not activated, police confirmed to KXAN investigators.

Two people died and 14 others were injured in the incident, which was sparked by a fight between two groups at the event at Old Settlers Park on Saturday night, Round Rock police said. Police are still searching for the suspect.

A spokesman for the agency said they did not attempt to activate the Active Shooter Alert System at the time of the shooting because they concluded the incident did not meet the criteria required for activation under Texas law.

In fact, the Texas Department of Public Safety said it has yet to receive a request to activate the system since it launched in 2021, despite its stated goal being to “save lives and prevent mass violence.”

Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) introduced a bill to create the system after seven people were killed and 25 others injured in Odessa in 2019.

It was designed to warn people near shootings through their phones, as well as through local broadcast media, the electronic signs on state highways known as “dynamic message signs” and other resources. The idea was to model the alert system after other emergency alerts, such as those used to notify people about abducted children (AMBER Alerts), missing seniors (Silver Alerts) or seriously injured police officers (Blue Alerts).

Activation of the Active Shooter Alert System must be requested by law enforcement and the incident must meet several specific criteria:

• An active shooter is under the jurisdiction of the requesting authority
• It is determined that an Active Shooter Alert would help people near the location of the active shooter
• There is confirmation of the active shooter situation through a preliminary investigation by the requesting authority.
• The last known whereabouts of the active shooter are identifiable

Texas Rep. Vikki Goodwin told KXAN she thought it was “tragic” that the system was not being used.

“We pass laws to keep people safer. This law in particular is designed to let people know when a shooting is happening so they can take precautions,” Goodwin told KXAN. “Nobody knew that shooting was happening. Some people said they thought it was fireworks at first, but then they saw people running. So I think it would have been helpful if a warning had gone out.”

Rep. Goodwin said she believes there is an increased need for public education in cases where the suspect has not been arrested. She first spoke out about using this system in December 2023 after a suspect allegedly shot multiple people in various locations in Travis and Bexar counties.

At the time, Austin police said they did not request the Active Shooter Alert System because it was not an “active shooting.”

A spokesperson said: “This was a series of events that occurred at different locations around the city, with different or unknown motives and no specific commonalities. It is not common practice for the APD or any other law enforcement agency to issue an alert for every shooting in their jurisdiction involving an unidentified shooter.”

Goodwin said she met with DPS and APD to discuss how to better utilize it, but she “didn’t really see the need for it.”

She has heard from law enforcement that people could be “inundated” with alerts and then become numb or desensitized, but she thinks there could be tighter parameters or guidelines for when the system is activated.

“We get a lot of AMBER alerts and then think, ‘Oh my God, another Amber alert.’ But that one alert at the right time for the right person could save a life, so why not.”