A man from Arkansas reportedly threatened to carry out a shooting at his local Walmart if the current hantavirus outbreak led to a lockdown similar to that of the coronavirus pandemic.
Aaron Keith Bynum, 20, was taken into custody on Friday for allegedly making this mass shooting threat while participating in online gaming, as stated in a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, NY POST reported.
Bynum reportedly informed other players that he would unleash gunfire inside his nearest Walmart “if the country were locked down again due to the hantavirus.”
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Gamers alerted FBI
On May 9, another gamer on the server alerted the FBI’s National Threats Operations Center regarding the threat. The anonymous informant also supplied a username along with an in-game recording that documented the moment the threat was issued.
It remains unclear whether Bynum communicated his alleged plan verbally or through a chatroom.
On May 11, the parent company of the online game identified Bynum as the owner of the account in question.
Subsequently, the NTOC coordinated with the FBI Fayetteville Field Office and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, whose investigators independently secured a search warrant and a probable cause affidavit for Bynum’s arrest.
Hantavirus outbreak
The hantavirus outbreak began on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Patient Zero, an ornithologist, passed away on board two weeks after he and his wife visited a landfill in Argentina, where health officials believe they contracted the rare human-transmissible Andes strain. His wife, along with a third individual, also succumbed to the rodent-borne illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is presently monitoring 41 people for potential infection. The majority of those being observed were passengers on the cruise, while others were on international flights with a symptomatic traveler from the ship.
Initial reports regarding the outbreak incited widespread panic due to fears of a new pandemic. However, health officials have emphasized that there is no cause for significant concern.
Hantavirus is generally transmitted through contact with an infected rodent or its droppings. Common strains cannot be transmitted between humans.
Bynum was apprehended without incident on Friday and taken to the Marion County Detention Center, where he was held on a $2,500 bond. He faces charges of first-degree terroristic threatening and harassing communications.
