The first "Call of Duty World League" tournament was cut short on Friday, Dec. 8. The event was startled with two bomb threats that shook people at the event.
People who were watching the opening day of the "Call of Duty World League" tournament held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas were quickly evacuated after Dallas Police Department (DPD) received a call about a "bomb threat" in the building.
The Dallas PD bomb squad quickly dispatched their K-9 units and did a thorough sweep of the whole convention center. No bomb was found on the initial search but the DPD continued their search nonetheless.
"Ghost Gaming" team member, pro-gamer Stephen Simmons, stated in his interview with Dallas Observer that the team had just finished their first round of the game when they heard the building's fire alarms. "All of a sudden, you heard the fire alarms go off but it kind of sounded like someone making an announcement," said Simmons.
"Nobody could really hear what the announcement was over the commotion of the crowd," Simmons added. He also shared how the emergency public address (PA) system tried to deliver a second announcement but it failed. This was where convention center security went into the crowd and ordered everyone to evacuate.
Simmons also noted how the police pushed the crowd back more than two blocks from where the convention center was at. Simmons said the scene was "restless" and "frustrating."
However, this was not the end as another bomb threat threatened the second day of the event. Kotaku reports that matches on Sunday, Dec. 10, were put on hold again as convention center officials evacuated the building.
Fortunately, there was no bomb found inside the building and players and spectators were once again permitted to enter the convention center.
The event, organized by Major League Gaming (MLG) and Vitality, is the first major event of the "Call of Duty World League" tournament. More tournaments will be held in 2018.
