Killer : Ward Weaver III , a rapist who murdered two girls and is serving life in prison , was wrongly declared free by the system . A glitch in a prison system 's computer system sent out thousands of false notifications that dangerous criminals had been released . The victim warning system , run by the Oregon Department of Corrections , fired out 8,000 inaccurate messages saying that criminals , including a notorious rapist and double murderer , were on the loose . Officials are still not sure why the technical error was set off on Friday evening , while the system was undergoing routine maintenance . Among the names caught up in the error was Ward Weaver III , a rapist who is serving life in prison for the murder of two girls . Some 1,900 inmates were falsely reported free . Local news station KGW , which signed up for alerts on Weaver , reported that they received the following message around 5:30pm Friday : . 'This e-mail is to inform you that WARD WEAVER has been released from custody as of 3/20/2015 . 'If you have any concerns about your immediate safety , contact your local law enforcement agency , or if you have an emergency , call 911 . ' Brea Day , whose cousin was murdered , received a release notification , and thought it was real . She said she was 'instantly horrified ' , and prayed that it was n't true . Calls flooded in to police from people who thought they were at risk . Still inside : Weaver , pictured above being locked away in 2004 , is in fact still serving his sentence - but many victims of crime were plunged into panic by the misleading notifications . Prison : Weaver is serving his sentence at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario , Oregon ( above ) In a statement , the Corrections Department said : 'Routine system maintenance appears to have triggered numerous notifications to victims in error ' . The system in question , the Victim Information and Notification Everyday , is also known as VINE . It is maintained by technology company Appriss , who are now planning to contact everyone who was misled by the messages . They were not available for comment Saturday . This is reportedly the only time the system has gone wrong . Ten other states run similar systems . Oregon also runs an offender search tool , which the corrections department said can be used to find accurate information on inmates .
Oregon Department of Corrections system went wrong 2004 evening . 8,000 notifications of release were sent out about some 1,900 inmates . One was Ward Weaver III , a rapist and double murderer serving life . Police were flooded with calls from worried victims and relatives .