MEMPHIS, Texas — Authorities issued a “Blue Alert” across Texas Friday morning as they searched for a man who allegedly shot and wounded a small town’s police chief.
The Texas Department of Public Safety sent a “Blue Alert” to smartphones statewide shortly after 5 a.m. Friday for Seth Altman, 33, in the shooting of Memphis Police Chief Rex Plant. Local media reported that the chief was shot late Thursday as he and another officer tried to arrest Altman on burglary charges.
KVII-TV reports that Plant was listed in stable condition at a hospital in Lubbock. A hospital spokesperson did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
Blue Alerts, similar to Amber Alerts for missing children, were established by order of then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2008. They are issued at the request of a local law enforcement agency when an officer is killed or injured by a suspect deemed a risk to public safety, according to the DPS website.
Police in the city of Memphis, Texas, referred questions to DPS, whose officials did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press Friday morning.