Arkansas Man’s In-Game Threat Over Hantavirus Lockdown Fears Lands Him Behind Bars After Unexpected FBI Tip

A 20-year-old man from Arkansas has been arrested for allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting at his local Walmart if the country were to go into a lockdown due to the hantavirus outbreak, much like the one during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Police arrested Aaron Keith Bynum from his Oakland residence on Friday, May 15, states a press release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. 

As stated, on Saturday, May 9, the National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received an electronic tip (E-tip) from an anonymous individual who reported an alleged shooting threat made by a player during an online multiplayer game. 

The tipster also shared the player’s username and an in-game recording, showing the moment the threat was made. However, it is not yet clear if the alleged threat was made verbally or typed out in a chatroom. 

On Monday, May 11, a subpoena was issued to the game’s parent company, which then identified Bynum as the owner of the gaming account mentioned in the tip. 

Two days later, on May 13, the FBI Fayetteville Field Office contacted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The office then passed the information to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the news release states. 

On May 14, detectives with the Sheriff’s Office issued and received a search warrant for Bynum’s residence. They also obtained a probable cause affidavit for his arrest. 

On Friday, May 15, investigators searched the residence and seized a computer and computer accessories from the scene. “BYNUM was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Marion County Detention Center (MCDC), where he was booked and processed,” the press release said. 

Police charged Bynum with one count of first-degree terroristic threatening, a class D felony, and one count of harassing communications, which is a class A misdemeanor. He also got a $2,500 bond. 

The ongoing hantavirus outbreak originated aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship traveling in the South Atlantic Ocean, after people began reporting severe respiratory illnesses. 

Two weeks after visiting a landfill in Argentina with his wife, Patient Zero, an ornithologist, died on board. The wife and a third person also passed away subsequently. Health experts suspect they contracted the rare Andes virus while visiting the landfill. 

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the rare Andes strain of the hantavirus can be “spread from person to person through prolonged, close contact. The Andes virus is also spread through exposure to infected rodent urine, saliva, or feces. Secondary infections among healthcare workers have been documented in healthcare settings when infection prevention and control measures were not implemented or followed.”

Regular strains of the hantavirus cannot be transmitted between people. The early symptoms of hantavirus infection, which can develop one to six weeks after exposure, include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, and gastrointestinal symptoms. 

Additional symptoms reportedly appearing four to 10 days after the initial illness include cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and rapid respiratory deterioration.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently monitoring 41 people for possible infection. Most of these people were passengers on the MV Hondius. A few others took international flights with a symptomatic traveler from the cruise. 

Early reports of the outbreak caused much panic. However, public health officials have said it is not yet a major concern. 

Public health officials have also said that the risk to the United States is extremely low at this time. J. Lee Jenkins, MD, said, “The chance for broad spread in the U.S. is extremely unlikely.”