Mass Shooting Threat Made Towards Evo 2018

By Nicholas Barth ·

Authorities have been notified of a mass shooting threat towards this Year's Evolution Championship Series.

Mass Shooting Threat Made Towards Evo 2018

The fighting game community recieved a serious threat, as a Twitch user with the name "quackquackhonks" made a threat to committ a mass shooting at this year's Evolution Championship Series. A screenshot of the threat was taken and brought to the attention of Evo organizer Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cueller, who immediatly took action to address the threat by contacting the FBI and Twitch. 

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.

— Joey Cuellar (@MrWiz) March 10, 2018
This is the latest threat brought to a major esports event, as back in December the Call of Duty World League Dallas Open was evacuated twice due to bomb threats. The Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas is the venue for Evo 2018, which made the threat even more worrisome considering that the hotel was the same building where a gunman opened fire on concert attendees back on October 1, 2017. 58 people were killed, while 851 were injured in the Mandalay Bay shooting.
The threat as it was made in a Twitch chat. (Source: Twitter User Dankadillas)
The threat as it was made in a Twitch chat. (Source: Twitter User Dankadillas)
While security has increased, especially for high profile tournaments like Evo, at esports events, it is still not on par with the likes of other professional sports. With threats like this one being taken extremely seriously, it will not be surprising to see extra security precautions being implemented for Evo 2018. 
As of this writing, there has been no announcements on if the person behind the threat has been identified and or taken into custody. 
(cover photo courtesy of Evo)