Snapshot taken from Stumbo’s Facebook profile page
Security at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA, were made aware of these threats and stopped the two men when they arrived on Thursday. Detectives working on behalf of the police seized their vehicle, and after a search warrant was granted on Friday they found a 12 gauge shotgun, an AR-15 rifle, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The evidence was then used to arrest Norton and Stumbo the same afternoon in Saugus, MA.
An image of the weapons found in the possession of the accused
As of the time of this article’s release, no motive for the threats has been discovered. However, it has been noted by Kotaku author Phil Owen that the rest of the Facebook posts are related to be normal posts about Pokémon.
The Pokémon Company International has since released a statement as follows:
Why anyone would threaten the Pokémon World Championships is beyond comprehension. Perhaps the threats were taken out of context? Could this simply be a case of foolish social media postings? Was this a matter of bad judgement, the two carrying weapons on hand unrelated to a possible shooting?
Until the Boston Police service releases more information we may never know. All that is certain is that Pokémon fans can rest assured that everything has been done to ensure security and safety at these events.
