Leilah Hernandez Act aka ‘Active Shooter Alert Bill’ Signed Into Law by Gov. Abbott

The bill did get unanimous support through all stages of legislation.

According to NewsWest 9, the Leilah Hernandez Act, which was proposed by Rep. Brooks Landgraf, has been signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott.

"The passage of the Leilah Hernandez Act means that Texans will be able to receive timely alerts, similar to Amber alert messages we currently receive, if there is an active shooting taking place in their area," said Landgraf. "This alert system could have saved the lives of some of my constituents back in 2019, like high school student Leilah Hernandez. The goal of this legislation is to save lives and prevent mass violence while protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Texans."

The bill is named after the youngest victim of the mass shooting here in Midland/Odessa on August 31, 2019.

“I am proud to sign the Leilah Hernandez Act into law, and I thank Representative Landgraf for championing this legislation,” said Governor Greg Abbott. “With the Leilah Hernandez Act, the Lone Star State will now have an Active Shooter Alert System that will notify Texans of violent threats in their communities and help save lives. We will never forget the lives tragically cut short in the Midland/Odessa shooting, including 15-year old Leilah Hernandez. And we will never stop working towards a safer future for our state.”

Here is how the alert system would work:

"The Texas active shooter alert system, with these Leilah alerts, is designed to work a lot like an amber alert, although we have made a few modifications," said Landgraf. "But in the event of an active shooter situation, local law-enforcement works with DPS to activate the system that’ll send notifications to your cell phone."

The law will go into effect on September 1, 2021, just one day after the second anniversary of the mass shooting, to give the DPS plenty of time to create the alert system and get it activated.

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