I was waiting for someone to post this. I already saw it. There was a quite civilized discussion about Gun Control down in the comments. I think I made internet history by being a part of it.
Aug 23, 2015, 06:57 PM (This post was last modified: Aug 23, 2015, 06:58 PM by Black117.)
I was gonna post an article and all the other news sources I got throughout the day this story but I guess I'll leave it at the end.
Honestly, I have no words to say but the same as Velis and every other PokeFan and video game fan, "what the actual F****". Yeah I feel as though we potentially averted a national tragedy on a scale we haven't seen since, well most of the other shootings like Sandy Hook or Aurora. First off, we should thank those who alerted the authorities (anonymous tipsters, TCPi) about this because if it wasn't for their help, I don't know what we'll be talking about. Those people as well as the BPD are the true heroes as they save many lives and allowed TPCi to continue hosting Worlds which some people thought-out their entire year plan for. Yeah its truly disturbing to see a couple of idiots plan something like this against people demonstrate their emotion towards a long time franchise.
Out of all thing, I would never thought the day would come where we might have to fear going to conventions now, but I guess this goes show we have to stay vigilant. If you see anything, anything that's out of the ordinary, and/or suspect malicious actions/plots, please contact the authorities ASAP since it can help save lives. I would like to end on the note that these guys were potentially gonna shoot up the place with a larger children and adolescent audience. Really despicable...
Aug 23, 2015, 06:57 PM (This post was last modified: Aug 23, 2015, 06:59 PM by ChaseInfinity.)
The thing the stumps me is that these guys had an invite to worlds, these werent some ordinary person watching the competition there were two competetors and (correct me if im wrong) potential world champions, im not sure what is going through these guys minds, bitter about the competition or just plain psychos who enjoy killing people, and saying that this was only a joke, please you had a loaded weapon in your car, if it were a joke you wouldnt need that, plus trying to sneak in the building
Its scary to think this stuff can happen but atleast everyone is safe
(Aug 23, 2015, 06:57 PM)Animekid7 Wrote: The thing the stumps me is that these guys had an invite to worlds, these werent some ordinary person watching the competition there were two competetors and (correct me if im wrong) potential world champions
Has this been confirmed since I've never heard of these 2 from the circuit. Maybe they were just previous players who's just want to go to worlds and do....that...
Aug 23, 2015, 07:03 PM (This post was last modified: Aug 23, 2015, 07:04 PM by ChaseInfinity.)
(Aug 23, 2015, 06:59 PM)Black117 Wrote:
(Aug 23, 2015, 06:57 PM)Animekid7 Wrote: The thing the stumps me is that these guys had an invite to worlds, these werent some ordinary person watching the competition there were two competetors and (correct me if im wrong) potential world champions
Has this been confirmed since I've never heard of these 2 from the circuit. Maybe they were just previous players who's just want to go to worlds and do....that...
im not 100% sure in the article it says so but when i click the link and look for their names, all i can find is James S. which "might" be the first guy and i cant find Kevin N. so they maynot be on there at all or have been removed who knows
Honestly words can't even begin to describe how messed up this is. I don't understand what thought process they would need to have to even consider that. This actually kinda terrified me when I first heard about it since I was actually there for all 3 days. Seriously great work to all the people involved to help prevent such a huge tragedy from possibly occurring.
Aug 24, 2015, 09:24 AM (This post was last modified: Aug 24, 2015, 09:26 AM by Revenant L.)
Welp, someone finally said it. I was going to write about it in this forum's next Pokemon Forever Somewhat Weekly Newsletter, but one of the editors thought it'd be best to leave it out. Now that it's a thread, I might as well post my original thoughts. Knew it'd only be a matter of time before someone mentioned it here. Seriously, those two should be sorry for what they did, at the very least. That's probably an understatement, but I'm not psychic, I have no idea if they actually had malicious intentions of not. But even if they didn't have nefarious intent, (although I'm almost positive they did), there is no way they're going to get away without being charged, and likely found guilty! Heck, I own a weapon, it's a 1 inch Swiss army knife. But I understand the responsibility even such a measly thing comes with. But seriously, come the heck on. A hunting knife? A Rifle? A SHOTGUN? HUNDREDS OF ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION, ALL UNLICENSED? In such a crowded place, that kinds of ammunition could probably injure or kill close to A THOUSAND people, maybe even thousands! There's absolutely no excuse to be carrying that stuff, and I don't buy the fact the possible argument that "Oh, maybe they just always carry guns with them in their car just in case", because that's just nonsense, those were UNLICENSED GUNS. If I can be rational about carrying around a tiny Swiss army knife, I think that other people can be rational about bring guns to a freaking jam packed event, licensed or not.
Man, shame on those guys. It's not new to see something like this, Americans across the country saw this EXACT SAME scenario with the Aurora movie theater shooting, the Sandy Hook school shooting, and so many more instances that concluded with the tragic deaths of many who didn't deserve such a terrible end.
I mean, surely those two guys had heard about these kinds of shootings over the years on the news, how stupid and apathetic towards others must one be to even consider pulling something like this off?!!! People go there with friends and family, for heaven's sake.
A couple of months ago, I was talking to Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng, he's an awesome guy, great personality, and has a little brother who he loves and cherishes. He's going to a great college, and I've no doubt he's got a bright future ahead of him. Now what if those two idiots never got caught by the BPD and something actually happened to someone like Aaron, who has a full life to live, God Forbid something like that ever befall him or those close to him.
And Aaron's just a single example. Out of a pool of thousands of examples of people who have a life ahead of them. Justin? Shadypenguinn? Literally EVERYONE at the convention? Didn't those two guys from Iowa even think for a second that everyone there was someone's child? Families could have been killed. Worse, families could have lost a loved one and been torn apart. Man, the BPD deserves SERIOUS props for handling a potential crisis so effectively, and the Pokemon company deserves kudos too, for putting the community's safety in first priority and notifying the police force asap.
Man, I'll never understand how those two freaking idiots from Iowa failed to see the ramifications of what they could have done. It doesn't take a lot of foresight to see it, it really doesn't. Regardless, I hope they have a chance to repent in some way, the Pokemon fans who were at the event deserve an apology video/statement from those two, at the very least. Who knows, maybe, JUST MAYBE they really didn't mean to do anything. I mean, they didn't actually just try to waltz in with guns in hand, right? They left them in the car, so who knows. Not that anyone's actually going to buy that even if it is the case. In the end, those two just didn't think. And that's not okay; so many of us have lost people we love because someone didn't think before they shot, or they didn't think before they stabbed, it's just not right for them to not think about having those guns, and it's gonna be something that sticks with those two for the rest of their lives. Being charged doesn't exactly look good when you're trying to get hired, seriously.
For news like this to come out of an event like the Pokemon World Championships, an event that's supposed to bring people together so they can have fun and build new friendships, is truly sad. I truly hope this is the last that the Pokemon community we all love ever hears such news again.
The Pokemon community, unlike a lot of other gaming communities like FPS's or maybe League, has always been a very benevolent, peaceful, and friendly community. Heaven forbid that Pokemon ever has a tragedy connected to it's name. The important thing is that a crisis was averted and no one was hurt, thank God.
you can't use logic to try and explain / understand what was going through those kind of peoples heads. I'm more intrigued in how lucky we were that not only was the guy stupid enough to post that on facebook. But his other friend was also just as stupid to not tell him to take it down. Combined with someone actually reporting what they saw. Whoever reported that to the police saved a lot of lives. Kudos.