Siren Emergency “Warning” Was Mistake; Wrong Button Pushed

St. Louis County apologizes to citizens who were concerned.

It was the first Wednesday of the month and that meant emergency sirens were blaring across parts of the county–not for a real emergency–but for a test.

However, instead of a test–a real warning was sent out.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said it was all a mistake.

The department said one of its operators inadvertently pressed the “warning” button instead of the “test” button.

“This caused the wrong alert tone to sound,” said Dewey Johnson, Emergency Support Services Administrator for the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.

“A lot of people likely aren’t aware there’s a difference between the test tone and the tone for a real emergency, but for those who do know, this may have caused concern, and for that we apologize,” said Johnson.

Most of the sirens were in Duluth and Proctor.