EUCLID, Ohio — You may have noticed traffic signs declaring a Blue Alert throughout Northeast Ohio on Sunday -- but what does this alert actually mean?
“The Ohio Blue Alert is a notification system that is intended to enlist public assistance in the event of a law enforcement officer's being critically injured or killed or missing and the suspect(s) are still at large,” according to the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
This weekend's Blue Alert was activated amid a manhunt for the suspect wanted in the shooting death of Euclid police officer Jacob Derbin after he was killed while responding to a call Saturday night.
Here is the criteria that must be met for a Blue Alert to be issued, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office:
- 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.
Once a Blue Alert is activated, media agencies throughout the state are notified. A statewide message is also sent to all law enforcement agencies, while the Ohio Department of Transportation's highway signs are updated with the Blue Alert information.
In the case of officer Derbin, the Blue Alert was activated at 1:32 a.m. Sunday. It was canceled later in the day at 6:39 p.m. after the suspect -- identified as 24-year-old Deshawn Anthony Vaughn -- was found dead following a standoff with authorities in Shaker Heights.
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