Professor Oak would be very disappointed in two young Iowans today who were arrested for allegedly making death threats and bringing illegal firearms and ammunitions to the Pokémon World Championship in Boston.

Boston Police say that the two men, 18-year-old Kevin Norton and 27-year-old James Stumbo, made violent threats online in reference to the championship, which were reported to event security who then contacted the police.

“Security officers at the Hynes, officers in District D-4, and the BRIC immediately began investigation into these threats, and hours later, the two male suspects were stopped attempting to enter the event,” Boston PD said in a statement. “BRIC and D-4 Detectives responded to further investigate. Detectives were informed that the suspects had driven to the event from Iowa and were in possession of several firearms in their vehicle. The suspects could not produce a License to Carry. Officers seized the vehicle, and the suspects were released pending a search warrant.”

After executing a search warrant on their vehicle, Boston Police discovered “one 12-gauge Remington shotgun, one DPMS Model AR-15 rifle, several hundred rounds of ammunition, and a hunting knife” (pictured above).

Boston PD commended the event’s private security staff for quickly gathering and reporting the information about the alleged plot.

“The relationship between police and private sector security is important in both our community policing philosophy, as well as our counter-terrorism strategy,” said BPD Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis Commander Superintendent Paul Fitzgerald. “This incident is a good example of private security reaching out to their local Boston police district and relaying information to detectives and BRIC analysts in order to identify the very real threat. The BPD detectives and collaborating agencies did a great job in the stop and prevention of a potential tragedy.”

So far, Norton and Stumbo have only been charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and “other firearm related charges.” They are expected to be arraigned today, but there are no details yet on whether they will face additional charges for the alleged plan to use the confiscated weapons during the tournament.

Image courtesy of Boston Police Department