York Region police say two young boys and their grandfather have been located in good health after an Amber Alert was issued in the early hours of Thursday morning. The alert prompted another series of complaints to 911.

In a York press release, police said the three were located at 4:30 a.m. by Toronto police as they were driving on Lakeshore Blvd. in the city. The alert was cancelled.

It was issued shortly after 3 a.m., for the two brothers, ages two and four.

According to the York Region police, the brothers were with their grandfather at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The grandfather had dropped off his wife at a plaza across the street from Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket.

The 70-year-old man was supposed to park his car, but for “unknown reasons” drove away — taking the two young boys, also in the car, along with him.

In the release, police said they do not believe that the children were taken with malicious intent, but said the grandfather would likely appear lost and confused if spotted by residents.

Const. Andy Pattenden said that York Region police had been in consultation with the OPP in the course of their investigation.

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As in previous Amber Alert cases, there were complaints on social media from Ontario residents angered by being woken up by the alert.

“Ontario #AmberAlert wakes me up at 03:00 with an imminent 9.x earthquake-like warning siren, then wakes me again with same 20 min later. All for a lost grandpa and his grand kids? They're still not in my bedroom, guys! But better check again in an hour or so just in case!,” tweeted a person with the handle @adencrane.

“The Ontario Amber Alerts are getting ridiculous,” tweeted @bogumil418 “I got one at 3 am and just as I was starting to fall asleep I got another one at 3:55 am. Do we need to be getting these everytime a kid goes missing? I just being woken up by an extreme loud siren in the middle of the night.”

Others defended the use of the Amber Alert.

“Did the amber alert wake up my child that has been cranky and refusing sleep all night? Yes,” @AlyHaveliwalla posted. “Am I going to complain about it? Absolutely not. I have my baby in my arms right now. I have no right to complain when someone is praying their kids come home safe. #AmberAlert

Once again, some people called 911 to complain, police said.

Police say that 911 should only to be used for real emergencies.

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Pattenden told reporters that police will not apologize for using the Amber Alert system at 3 a.m., because the children were found safe.

Toronto police tweeted that they have been receiving “dozens of complaints” over the alert.

“Please do not block 9-1-1 lines with non-emergencies, as you are risking the health & safety of others,” they posted.

The OPP also reminded the public that calling 911 or any emergency service communication centre is not an appropriate venue to complain about the alerts.

“The decision to utilize the Ontario Amber Alert is based on established criteria, and is not taken lightly,” the service said. “In 2019, there have been five Amber Alerts activated. As a direct result of these alerts, four assisted in the safe return of the child/children and one with the apprehension of a suspect.”

Police said the alert program continues to be a tool to help the public and police locate an abducted child who may be in danger.

“The OPP recognizes the inconvenience the alert may have caused, but will not apologize for using all of the tools available to help locate a child,” the service said.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission mandated the broadcasting industry to distribute emergency alert messages, which includes Amber alerts.

As of April 2018, compatible wireless networks (wireless public alerting) were included in this mandate.

The way someone can avoid receiving these alerts on a mobile is to turn off the device, the OPP said. But, if your cell is turned off, you won’t be able to receive any emergency alert that may contain information about any imminent danger in your area.

Visit the Alert Ready website at https://www.alertready.ca/ for more information about the emergency alert system.

With files from Northumberland News