A Hawaiian man is suing the state of Hawaii, claiming he suffered a heart attack as a result of the mistakenly issued ballistic missile alert last year.

James Sean Shields and his girlfriend, Brenda Reichel, have named the state of Hawaii and the then-administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Vern Miyagi, in the lawsuit that seeks unspecified damages after a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee mistakenly sent the missile alert; a follow-up message was sent 38 minutes later notifying people it was a false alarm.

The lawsuit alleges Shields’ heart attack was the result of the false missile alert and the state’s failure to cancel it in a timely manner. According to news reports, shortly after the notice Shields went to a community clinic, where he suffered cardiac arrest. Reichel claims she suffered “emotional upset” from watching Shields almost die.

“Both plaintiffs believed this message to be true and were extremely frightened and thought they were shortly going to die,” the lawsuit said.

“We’re going to reserve any comment until we have had a chance to review the claims,” said Richard Rapoza, a spokesman for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

—Source: westhawaiitoday.com