An Arkansas resident is facing serious charges after allegedly threatening violence at a local Walmart if a lockdown similar to the COVID-19 pandemic were to occur due to a hantavirus outbreak.
Aaron Keith Bynum, a 20-year-old, was taken into custody on Friday following accusations that he made the threat while participating in an online gaming session, as reported by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
During the game, Bynum allegedly mentioned to fellow players that he planned to initiate a shooting at his nearby Walmart if the nation experienced another lockdown due to hantavirus concerns.
Walmart if the US went into a lockdown because of the hantavirus outbreak. Marion County Sheriff
This alarming statement was reported to the FBI’s National Threats Operations Center on May 9 by another player who heard the threat. The player, opting to remain anonymous, provided authorities with both Bynum’s gaming username and an audio recording capturing the incident.
It remains unclear whether Bynum communicated his intentions via voice chat or text messages within the game.
On May 11, the game’s parent company confirmed Bynum as the account holder associated with the threat.
The NTOC then linked up with the FBI Fayetteville Field Office and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, whose investigators separately obtained a search warrant and probable cause affidavit for Bynum’s arrest.
Bynum was cuffed without incident on Friday and placed in the Marion County Detention Center on a $2,500 bond. He was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening and harassing communications.
The hantavirus outbreak originated on the MV Hondius cruise ship. Patient Zero, an ornithologist, died on board two weeks after he and his wife visited a landfill in Argentina, where health officials suspect they contracted the rare human-transmissible Andes strain. His wife and a third person also died of the rodent-borne illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently monitoring 41 people for possible infection. The bulk of those under supervision were passengers on the cruise, while others were on international flights with a symptomatic traveller from the ship.
Early reports of the outbreak caused widespread panic over the fear of a new pandemic, but health officials have stressed that there is no need for major concern.
Hantavirus is typically spread through contact with an infected rodent or its excrement. Regular strains cannot be passed between people.
