HOUSTON — Texans across the state were woken up by a Blue Alert early Friday morning after a suspect reportedly shot a police officer in the Texas Panhandle.
And many people were unhappy about it. Many people commented on our Facebook post to express their thoughts on the statewide alert, that was on the other side of the state from Houston.
"I understand the purpose of the alert and I pray for the cop and his family. But this was up north. Many hours away," one commenter wrote. "Houston did not need this alert before 5am. More local areas I can see that but not the whole state."
"Misuse of the system. That was 7 hours from here!" another commenter wrote. "No way everyone in Houston needed to be disturbed in the middle of the night."
Not everyone was upset with the alert, however.
"He shot an officer multiple times and y’all are complaining your phone woke you up," one commenter wrote. "That officer is someone’s loved one. You’d want that alert if it was your loved one"
For those wanting to turn off these alerts to ensure their sleep isn't disrupted again, here's how to do that.
Adjust alert notifications for iPhone
For iPhone users, they can go to the "settings" section of their phone and click on "notifications." From there, users have to scroll to the bottom to "government alerts," and tap the switches off for "emergency alerts" and "public safety alerts" to turn off the notifications.
Adjust alert notifications for Android
Android users also go to the "notifications" section in their settings, then select "advanced," and then "emergency alerts. On some Android phones the section may be called "Wireless Emergency Alerts." Once there, Android settings provide options to turn off individual alerts -- including extreme threats, severe threats, AMBER Alerts, public safety messages and state and local tests.
For a look at the full range of alerts that can be sent to your phone, click here.
