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An Arkansas man was arrested after allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting at his local Walmart if the country went into lockdown over the hantavirus outbreak, authorities said.
Aaron Bynum, 20, of Oakland, was arrested Friday for allegedly making the threats, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
He was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening and harassing communications.
Officials said the arrest followed an investigation into online threats allegedly made by Bynum on May 9.
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Authorities arrested an Arkansas man accused of threatening a Walmart shooting tied to hantavirus lockdown fears. (Marion County Sheriff’s Office; iStock)
The FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received an electronic tip from an individual playing an online video game who alleged another player threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a local Walmart “if the country were locked down again due to the Hantavirus.”
Authorities said the reporting individual provided the player’s gamer username along with an in-game recording of the alleged threats.
Investigators said they subpoenaed the game’s parent company, which identified Bynum as the owner of the account.
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Aaron Bynum, 20, was arrested after allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting at a Walmart if the country entered another lockdown over hantavirus concerns, authorities said. (Marion County Sheriff Office)
The FBI’s Fayetteville Field Office then alerted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and authorities executed a search warrant at Bynum’s residence Friday.
Investigators said they seized Bynum’s computer and related accessories.
Authorities said Bynum was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Marion County Detention Center on a $2,500 bond.
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Authorities said an Arkansas man threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a local Walmart. (unknown)
The hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius cruise ship has sickened multiple people aboard the vessel, with WHO reporting as of May 13 that all cases then identified were passengers.
As of May 13, the World Health Organization said 11 cases had been identified in connection with the outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case. Three deaths had also been linked to the outbreak, and WHO assessed the risk to the global population as low.
Canadian health officials on Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned from the MV Hondius tested positive for the virus. The Associated Press reported that the Canadian case brought the number of confirmed infections tied to the ship to 10, updating the earlier WHO count from May 13.
While the outbreak has sparked comparisons to the coronavirus pandemic, senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel previously told Digital there is “no comparison,” noting hantavirus is difficult to spread.
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The CDC says Andes virus, the strain confirmed in the MV Hondius outbreak, is the only hantavirus documented to spread from person to person, though such transmission is rare and generally requires close, prolonged contact with a symptomatic person.
“It’s not airborne … in terms of respiratory droplets hanging in the air,” he said. “It’s very difficult to transmit.”
Digital’s Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.
