What is a Blue Alert? What it is and how to sign up
A Blue Alert was issued Saturday night after an officer was shot and killed while responding to a call in Euclid.
Euclid police officers, including Jacob Derbin, responded to a disturbance Saturday night, just before 10 p.m. While the call was being investigated, the suspect Deshawn Anthony Vaughn shot Derbin, fleeing the scene. Derbin succumbed to his injuries.
A Blue Alert notified citizens while Vaughn was at large.
More: Suspect in shooting death of Euclid, Ohio, police officer dead after standoff
What is a Blue Alert?
The Ohio Blue Alert is a notification system that is intended to enlist public assistance in the event of a law enforcement officer being critically injured or killed or missing and the suspect or suspects are still at large, according to the Ohio Attorney General's office.
The following criteria must be met to initiate a Blue Alert:
A local law enforcement agency confirms that a law enforcement officer has been seriously injured or killed, and a suspect has not been apprehended, or that a law enforcement officer is missing while on duty under circumstances warranting concern for the law enforcement officer's safety.
There is sufficient descriptive information about the suspect or the circumstances surrounding a law enforcement officer's injury, death or disappearance to indicate that activation of the alert may help locate a suspect or a missing law enforcement officer.
Multiple police agencies closed down the area of Lee Road and Van Aken Boulevard due to SWAT activity starting at around 1:45 p.m. Sunday, according to the Akron Beacon Journal and its news partner News 5 Cleveland.
The Greater Cleveland RTA also suspended Blue Line service. Vaughn later died after the standoff with SWAT Sunday afternoon, the Beacon Journal reported.
Want to receive Blue Alert notifications? You can sign up here.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What is a Blue Alert? What it is and how to sign up
