Mass Shooting Threatened at EVO 2018, FBI Alerted
EVO organizers have notified the FBI and Twitch following a comment from one user today during a stream, who threatened a mass shooting at the upcoming Evolution Championship Series this summer.
The threat came from a Twitch user who goes by the name “quackquackhonks,” with no indication of kidding around. While it's possible the statement was a mere abhorrent “prank,” EVO organizers were taking no chances, after all the event draws a crowd of roughly 10,000 attendees.
News of the incidence comes way of EVO organizer Joey Cuellar, who issued the following tweet:
We are aware of the threat that was made against Evo 2018, and have contacted the FBI and Twitch regarding this matter. We take this very seriously, and they will be punished to the full extent of the law.
As you can see from Mr. Cuellar's tweet, not only are EVO organizers taking the threat seriously, but will issue a punish to the full extent of the law.
Here is the original comment from the above-mentioned user:
For those unaware, EVO is the annual esports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games, such as Street Fighter and Tekken. The tournaments are completely open, and draw massive crowds (with every successive tournament drawing an increase in attendees) and huge online viewership. Since 2005 it has been held at various venues in the Las Vegas area (the first event was held all the way back in 1996). This year's event is expected to take place at the Mandalay Bay.
Being in Las Vegas makes the threat perhaps even more worrying, given the city recently suffered the largest mass shooting in American history just this past October. What's even more worrying is the shooting took place at the same hotel.
It's worth noting that gun or terrorist violence at esports event has largely been rare, though there have been situations in the past that have caused entire arenas to be evacuated, such as MLG Dallas, which was cleared out twice back in December over a bomb threat.
EVO 2018 is poised to take place on August 3rd and run to August 5th.
