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 wasn'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 Friday 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 .