Residents of South Austin were taken by surprise on Wednesday when over 50,000 individuals received a shelter-in-place alert due to a dangerous individual with outstanding warrants in the area. However, the alert’s format raised suspicions among many, leading them to believe it might be a phishing scam.
Chris Bataska, who received the notification while at his office on Barton Springs Road, initially thought it was a phishing attempt. “We’ve had a lot of phishing attempts at the company, so my first thought was to email it to IT because it looked like a different link than normal,” he explained, expressing his skepticism about the message.
Bataska suggested that clarity regarding the issuing law enforcement agency would have been beneficial, along with a link featuring a trusted domain, such as “.gov.” The alert was presented in all capital letters and included a link that read “please click here to acknowledge receipt of this message,” which further fueled doubts among recipients.
Another resident, John Stolz, described his reaction as “slightly confused and a little caught off guard.” He echoed Bataska’s sentiments, stating, “It seemed really spammy,” and emphasized the importance of clarity regarding the source of the message and the specific neighborhoods affected.
Stolz noted that he found similar reactions expressed by others on Reddit. Approximately 30 minutes after the initial alert was dispatched, the Austin Police Department confirmed its authenticity via a post on X.
The Austin Police Department provided a description of the suspect, identified as a muscular Black man in his mid-30s, last seen wearing a white shirt and a white hat with a red brim, and urged the public to remain indoors, secure their homes, and call 911 if they spotted the individual. The alert was sent to 51,789 people living within a one-mile radius of Willow Springs Road and Industrial Boulevard.
Shortly thereafter, the APD lifted the shelter-in-place order, announcing on X that “after an extensive search it is believed the subject has fled the area.”
In a subsequent statement, the Austin Police Department indicated that their involvement in the incident was minor, as they were assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI in the operation. The FBI later confirmed that the suspect is now in custody.
