Hawaii police training sparks false emergency sirens
Sorry, Hawaii, this was just a test. Again.
A police training exercise in Hawaii “inadvertently triggered” a false emergency siren on the islands of Oahu and Maui — sparking a brief panic among residents, who have experienced false alerts before.
The Honolulu Police Department took blame for the “mistaken siren,” which sounded around 5:05 p.m. Wednesday, according to Honolulu’s Star-Advertiser. Emergency officials were quick to announce online that the sirens were false and there was nothing that posed a threat to the U.S. islands.
“Mistaken siren sounding by Honolulu Police Department. NO EMERGENCY at this time,” Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted around 5:19 p.m.
Hawaii EMA✔@Hawaii_EMA
Mistaken siren sounding by Honolulu Police Department. NO EMERGENCY at this time.
“HPD and emergency officials are conducting a thorough investigation,” the mayor wrote.
Kirk CaldwellThe city’s @Oahu_DEM is aware of a siren sounding in the Kakaako area at about 510pm this evening and is investigating. THERE IS NO REASON TO BE ALARMED. REPEAT… NO CAUSE FOR ALARM.
Kirk Caldwell✔@MayorKirkHNL
Mahalo to everyone for taking appropriate action & tuning into local media when the sirens were inadvertently triggered earlier this evening during HPD training. HPD and emergency officials are conducting a thorough investigation.
“I am so sorry,” she said. “We realize we need to make sure that we’re training on training equipment only.”
The alarm rehashed the panic Hawaii felt in January 2018, when a false ballistic missile alert was sent to locals and residents. “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii,” the alert read. “Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
The alert was sent by an employee just a few minutes after a shift change at the state’s EMA, when a no-notice ballistic missile defense exercise drill had just started. An employee thought the drill was real, and sent the false alert to cell phones and broadcasters, officials said.
The message was canceled by emergency officials five minutes after it was sent, but it took them 38 minutes to send another alert notifying people the alarm was false.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
