ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man fired a gun in the University of New Mexico (UNM) Hospital’s pediatric ward on Jan. 4. UNM officials sent out multiple alerts to faculty, staff and students warning them of the incident, but many of the alerts did not reach recipients for as long as 20 minutes.
Cesar Dominguez-Garcia fired the gun during an argument with his girlfriend who was a patient at the hospital, CBS News reports. Video surveillance shows him leaving the building an hour after the shooting. No one was injured.
According to KOAT 7, the first text message alert was sent out within seven minutes of the shooting, and 29,000 people received it within 44 seconds. About 20 minutes later, another 5,000 received the message.
Recipients complained about the delay, but emergency manager Byron Piatt told KOAT 7 that it was due to cell phone provider error, lack of service or dying cell phone batteries. He added that UNM will soon be able to display alerts on its webpage.
Related Articles:
