Police Arrest Gunmen at Pokemon World Championships

Boston Police prevented a potential tragedy by arresting two gunmen who threatened violence at the Pokemon World Championships.

Two armed men have been arrested by the Boston Police Department after teasing potential acts of violence on social media and showing up to the Pokemon World Championships in Boston with a shotgun, assault rifle and a ton of ammo for both weapons in their vehicle, Kotaku reports. 18-year-old Kevin Norton and 27-year-old James Stumbo were arrested by police after the security team of the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center contacted authorities upon preventing the duo access to the event. Both men are Iowa natives who were invited as entrants in the Masters Division of the Pokemon Trading Card Game's world championships. While the full extent and details of the duo's threats have not been revealed, security at the Hynes Center likely found out about the firearms they had in their vehicle based on Stumbo's post on Facebook.

At first, Norton and Stumbo told Hynes' security team that they had licenses for their guns but they did not actually have any. Stumbo also claimed his post on Facebook was misunderstood and taken out of context. Police seized the vehicle upon learning the men didn't have licenses to carry their guns. After getting a search warrant, Police searched the duo's vehicle and found an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge Remington shotgun, a knife and a few hundred rounds of ammo.

The two men will be charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and other firearm-related charges. They should get the book thrown at them, considering they were likely planning to do widespread harm at a Pokemon event, which attracts large numbers of children and younger gamers.

"The relationship between police and private sector security is important in both our community policing philosophy, as well as our counter-terrorism strategy," said BPD Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis Commander Superintendent Paul Fitzgerald. "This incident is a good example of private security reaching out to their local Boston police district and relaying information to detectives and BRIC analysts in order to identify the very real threat. The BPD detectives and collaborating agencies did a great job in the stop and prevention of a potential tragedy."

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