GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Thursday, Raleigh police were called around 5:30 p.m. to Neuse River Greenway and Osprey Cove Drive, and Bay Harbor Drive when a 15-year-old boy shot two people in the streets of a neighborhood, then went toward a walking trail, where he shot three more people and injured two others, police say.
When situations like this happen, it's important to know what kind of alert system is in place to notify residents of certain emergencies.
We did some research and found that Wake County does have an alert system where you are able to receive phone calls, texts, and emails regarding events that may impact your home, workplace, family, schools, and more. The only thing is, you have to make sure you're signed up to get those alerts. The same thing goes for Guilford County.
Guilford County has an emergency alert system called GEANI.
It stands for Guilford Emergency Alert Notification and Information system.
Emergency Management Division Director, Steven Grose, explained what this system is and why it's important.
He said the software allows people to sign up to receive notifications regarding weather, public safety, and any kind of emergent information public agencies believe citizens need to know about.
"We have used GEANI several times in the last few months for some missing persons. We very often use it to alert folks that there will be public safety activity in their area and if they were able to report anything to 911 that would help with whatever the emergency is going on," Grose said.
Guilford County Emergency Management said it's important to make sure you are well-prepared to receive emergency notifications.
This means ensuring you have more than one form of getting those alerts.
Another way to receive emergency notifications is by making sure your wireless emergency alerts are turned on, on your phone.
You go to settings, emergency notifications, and scroll down to ensure the alerts are turned on.
As far as what is being done on the federal level, Bill H.R.6538 is in the Senate right now.
Its called the Active Shooter Alert Act of 2022.
The bill says policies would be created to format alert messages to be conveyed on mass alert systems and issuing wide-area alerts to better notify residents.