Alert system mistake warns Missouri residents Joker is on the loose

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (UPI) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol is reassuring the public that Batman villain Joker is not on the loose after a staff member sent an emergency alert to mobile devices.

Missouri residents received alerts from the highway patrol Tuesday warning citizens of “Gotham City” to be on the lookout for a purple and green 1978 Dodge 3700 GT with license plate number “UKIDME” — a description that matches the vehicle used by Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the 1989 film Batman.

The law enforcement agency explained in a Twitter post that the clown prince of crime is not on the loose in Missouri, which does not have a place called “Gotham City.”

“This was meant to be a test message, THERE WAS NO ALERT,” the highway patrol tweeted. The agency said the message was meant to be “a routine test of Missouri’s Blue Alert system.”

“The Patrol regularly tests the Blue Alert system to ensure it works properly when needed. During the test, an option was incorrectly selected, allowing the message to be disseminated to the public,” the agency said in a statement.

Reporting by Ben Hooper

United Press International

+ postsBio

United Press International is an international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the 20th century.

• United Press International

  https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/

  Amazon to hire 250,000 workers for holidays
• United Press International

  https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/

  14 dead after plane crashes in Amazon
• United Press International

  https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/

  Coinbase to lay off more than 900 employees
• United Press International

  https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/

  Samsung announces disappointing 3Q results