Police arrest gunmen heading to the Pokemon World Championship
Nasty business here with reports that the Boston Police Department has arrested two armed men heading to the Pokémon World Championships.
According to FoxBoston.com, two Iowa men, Kevin Norton and James Stumbo, were stopped outside the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Centre following reports of social media threats. After obtaining a search warrant, a shotgun, an AR-15 and "several hundred rounds of ammunition and a hunting knife" were found in their car, and the two were arrested. Both were registered to compete in the Masters Division of the event.
These are the weapons that @bostonpolice found after plot to attack #PokemonWorlds. http://t.co/aGLlBYI7Jp #FOX25 pic.twitter.com/f827INspPXAugust 23, 2015
Currently (this is all breaking, obviously) the two are charged with "unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and other firearm related offences".
This is apparently one of the messages that notified the authorities:
A known disgusting asshole of a TCG player just got kicked out of and banned at Worlds because of this: pic.twitter.com/xgd4qrDz2YAugust 21, 2015
Here's the statement the Pokémon Company issued:
"Prior to the event this weekend, our community of players made us aware of a security issue. We gathered information and gave it as soon as possible to the authorities at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center who acted swiftly and spearheaded communication with the Boston Police Department. Due to quick action, the potential threat was resolved. The Pokémon Company International takes the safety of our fans seriously and will continue to ensure proper security measures are a priority."
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I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.