Information on Oct. 25 shelter-in-place alert
At approximately 10:50 a.m., Ramsey County’s Emergency Communications Center sent a shelter-in-place message to local mobile devices using the FCC’s Wireless Emergency Alert system. The message was developed in response to a law enforcement situation occurring in the city of Roseville.
The message was intended for mobile devices in a small section of Roseville. Ramsey County staff programmed the message to be sent via cell towers covering the area between Larpenteur Avenue and Highway 36 and Snelling Avenue and Victoria Street. For reasons not known at this time, the Wireless Emergency Alert system pushed the message to a significantly broader area, and mobile phones across Ramsey County and nearby communities received the alert.
Once Emergency Communications became aware of the delivery issue with the original message, a clarification was sent at approximately 11:15 a.m. providing the specific areas where people should shelter in place.
A third message was sent at approximately 11:30 a.m. once the law enforcement incident was resolved.
Ramsey County is actively reviewing this incident with our staff and state and federal partners to identify why the alert went out to such an excessively broad area. Wireless emergency alerts should only be delivered to mobile devices connected to towers with a coverage area that overlaps the alert area.
Ramsey County deeply apologizes for the confusion and disruption this morning’s alerts caused throughout the metro region. Ramsey County will continue to investigate this issue in the days ahead to identify the cause of the issue and prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.
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Update 11:30 a.m.: The shelter in place advisory is over. The situation has been resolved and a suspect is in custody.
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Update 11:15 a.m.: The shelter in place warning was sent to a broader area than intended. Everyone in the following portions of the city of Roseville should shelter in place at this time:
- Larpenteur Avenue to Highway 36.
- Victoria Street to Snelling Avenue.