Texas House approves bill creating active shooter alert system

The Texas House is unanimously approving a measure to create an active shooter alert system in the state. 

The bill is known as the Leilah Hernandez Act, in honor of the youngest victim of the August 2019 Midland-Odessa shooting spree. 

Sajeili Carrasco, 15, bottom right, and Celia Lopez, 15, who were friends with Leilah Hernandez, a 15-year-old Odessa High sophomore who was killed in the attack, gather for a prayer vigil at the University of Texas Permian Basin on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. (Source: Ryan Michalesko, Dallas Morning News staff photographer).

It would launch a system like the AMBER Alert system for missing children, which would alert all people’s phones within a certain area of a mass shooting as deemed necessary by law enforcement. 

The bill’s author, Odessa Representative Brooks Landgraf, hopes the system will save lives by warning people of any active shooting near them. 

The bill is now in the hands of the Texas Senate. 

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