Taking place in Dallas, TX. over the weekend, the Call of Duty World League Dallas tournament was put on hold following multiple bomb threats. On Friday, December 8, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center was evacuated by on-site officials after the Dallas Police Department (DPD) received a call about a bomb threat at the location.

According to a tweet by local television reporter Rebecca Lopez, sources said that a security guard called the DPD saying that he had seen “a backpack that looked like it had dynamite in it,” which led to the bomb squad being called in. Sources also said that crime stoppers also received a call saying that the convention center would be blown up in 30 minutes.

The Dallas Police Department said that the bomb squad completed their searches and confirmed that there were no explosive devices present. Tournament organizer also MLG tweeted that it had received the “all-clear” and that the Call of Duty tournament would resume the following day (December 10).

However on December 10, police received a call about another bomb threat, which led to a second evacuation. Though this second evacuation was much shorter and attendees were able to go back into the convention center after just over an hour. After this second threat, the tournament was able to be completed successfully, and Team Kaliber was crowned the Call of Duty World League Dallas winner.

Those in attendance must feel relieved that both bomb threats were just a hoax and that no one was hurt. The Dallas Police Department swiftly took action and increased security measures were also introduced to ensure that everyone was kept safe.

Call of Duty eSports is very popular and a lot of people were in attendance, meaning that many could have been in danger had this been a real threat. Fans, followers, and outsiders alike will all be thankful that this was just a prank and nothing more.

The 2018 season of Call of Duty esports is just getting started (the Dallas event was the first of the season) and Activision is hoping to expand Call of Duty esports, possible with an Overwatch League-like system. Activision, local authorities, and convention centers will surely be cautious of similar hoaxes affecting the esports tournaments in future.

Source: Compete