Blue Alert issued in the Panhandle

MEMPHIS, Texas (AP) — Authorities issued a “Blue Alert” across Texas Friday morning as they searched for a man who allegedly shot and wounded a small town’s police chief.

The Texas Department of Public Safety sent a “Blue Alert” to smartphones statewide shortly after 5 a.m. Friday for Seth Altman, 33, in the shooting of Memphis Police Chief Rex Plant. Local media reports the chief was shot late Thursday when he and another officer tried to arrest Altman on a burglary charge.

KVII-TV reports Plant was listed in stable condition at a hospital in Lubbock. A hospital spokesperson did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Blue Alerts, similar to Amber Alerts for missing children, were created by the executive order of then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2008. They are issued at a local law enforcement agency’s request whenever an officer is killed or wounded by a suspect considered a risk to public safety, according the DPS website.

Police in the Texas panhandle town of Memphis referred questions to the DPS, whose officials did not immediately return phone calls to The Associated Press Friday morning.