Texas officials apologized after sending anAmber Alert describing the killer doll Chucky last week.- Chucky was listed as a 16-pound man with red hair and blue eyes who was a suspect in a kidnapping.
- Officials said the alert was sent accidentally because of a test malfunction.
Texas public-safety officials last week accidentally sent an Amber Alert warning that Chucky, the horror-movie doll, was a suspect in a kidnapping.
The Amber Alert, used in searching for missing or abducted children, listed Chucky, the main character in the "Child's Play" movies, as a 28-year-old man with red hair and blue eyes who was last seen wearing "blue denim overalls," KENS, a CBS affiliate in San Antonio, reported on January 29.
His height was given as 3-foot-1 and his weight as 16 pounds. His race was listed as "Other: Doll."
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Alongside a picture of the killer doll was a warning that he was "wielding a huge kitchen knife" before his disappearance.
The message listed Glen, a character in the 2004 movie "Seed of Chucky," as the missing child.
—KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) January 29, 2021
The emergency alert was sent by email three times, the report said.
Officials from the Department of Public Safety said the alert was sent because of "a test malfunction."
"We apologize for the confusion this may have caused and are diligently working to ensure this does not happen again," they said in a statement.
Don Mancini, the director and screenwriter who created the Chucky character, posted the news on Twitter, jokingly writing, "PLEASE FIND THEM."
—Don Mancini (@RealDonMancini) January 29, 2021
The Amber Alert system was developed in the US in 1996 to ask the public for help in finding missing or abducted children. It was named after Amber Hagerman, a young girl in Texas who was kidnapped and killed that year.
This wasn't the first time an emergency alert was sent by accident.
In January 2018, officials in Hawaii caused widespread panic by accidentally sending an alert to phones and broadcast stations that warned of a "ballistic missile threat inbound."
"Seek immediate shelter," said the alert, which went uncorrected for 38 minutes. "This is not a drill."