Buncombe officials investigating Dec. 20 active shooter alert; history of false alarms

Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times
·3 min read
An increased law enforcement presence seen downtown near 40 Coxe Ave. following reports of an active shooter Dec. 20, 2023. The scene was cleared without injury or evidence of a shooter.
An increased law enforcement presence seen downtown near 40 Coxe Ave. following reports of an active shooter Dec. 20, 2023. The scene was cleared without injury or evidence of a shooter.

ASHEVILLE - Buncombe County officials are investigating how and who triggered an emergency alert button at the Buncombe County Health and Human Services building Dec. 20, which led to a large law enforcement presence downtown as employees evacuated the building.

The button was activated from a PC located on the front counter in the public health department, situated inside the building at 40 Coxe Ave., county spokesperson Kassi Day told the Citizen Times.

The alert reached the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office at 8:15 a.m., according to spokesperson Aaron Sarver, which responded alongside the Asheville Police Department, Asheville Fire Department and numerous other emergency personnel.

Previous reporting: Emergency alert triggered at Buncombe County building, employees evacuated, scene cleared

First responders “received a notification from an internal alert system of an active assailant in the building,” according to joint statement from the departments posted on Facebook Dec. 20.

“A 911 call claiming to have seen an active assailant was also among the information first responders received,” the statement said.

Deputies from the sheriff’s office and officers from APD entered the building to confront the threat, as well as two deputies already inside the building at the time of the notification, according to the statement. Buncombe County EMS was also staged at the scene to provide medical care if needed.

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Due to the collaborative response, law enforcement quickly cleared the building, accounted for all employees and visitors, and confirmed there was no threat to safety, according to the statement.

“We are still looking into how/who may have triggered the button, but that is an internal process and won’t be publicly announced,” Day told the Citizen Times over email. “Even though this turned out to be a false alarm, we continue to applaud our employees and first responders for their response to the event.”

After being closed to in-person services for the remainder of Dec. 20, the county Health and Human Services building is open on a regular schedule Dec. 21 and Dec. 22. It will be closed for winter holidays Dec. 25 through Dec. 27 and on Jan. 1.

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History of accidental activations

Not including this recent false alarm, the Alertus system has been activated five times in the past two years, four of which were accidental activations, according to Day. The system was activated on the following dates:

  • Dec. 22, 2021 (accidental activation).

  • Feb. 4, 2022.

  • Feb. 24, 2022 (accidental activation).

  • Nov. 17, 2022 (accidental activation).

  • May 10, 2023 (accidental activation).

“To be clear, when we say, ‘accidental activation,’ this was an accidental physical activation, a push of the button, not a software malfunction,” Day said.

From the time an active assailant button is pressed, the alert takes seconds to reach first responder agencies, spokesperson Lillian Govus said. Regarding which agencies are notified, Govus said it depends on the location of the alert.

“It could be any combination of sheriff’s office and municipal law enforcement or simply the sheriff’s office,” Govus told the Citizen Times via email.

The Citizen Times asked how the system works after an alert button is pressed. However, that is security information that cannot be shared publicly, according to Day.

The Alertus system is used across all Buncombe County facilities, Day said. The purchase of the system occurred over a few fiscal years and amounted to about $264,142. The county’s annual maintenance and support costs for the system in 2023 was $33,000.

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office also uses Alertus internally, for supervisors to send updates regarding critical events directly to deputies’ phones, such as in the case of the Dec. 14 plane crash on I-26, Sarver told the Citizen Times.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe County investigating active shooter alert at county building