A shooting threat was reported targeting Twitch headquarters in San Francisco Wednesday, according to employees working for the streaming service. Employees were given the option to work from home due to the risk as San Francisco police secured the building and investigated the threat. San Francisco Police Department officer Adam Lobsinger has since confirmed that the situation is no longer being treated as an "active threat," but that the investigation is continuing.
Lobsinger was able to confirm that a threat was made against the location where Twitch has its headquarters. He went on on to add that the threat was made on Twitter. Business Insider reports that the threat was shooting related, verified via private Twitch employee social media accounts speaking about the incident. At the time that Lobsinger provided comment, no suspects had been identified.
A Twitch representative provided a statement regarding the ongoing investigation:
"We were made aware of a threat against our San Francisco HQ on Tuesday. And have been working directly with law enforcement as they investigate. The safety and security of our employees is our top priority, and we are focused on ensuring this is resolved quickly and safely."
While police officers were on-scene Wednesday morning, the investigation has since been referred to the SFPD's special investigations department. It's unclear if Twitch will continue to allow its employees to work from home.
Online threats within the streaming community are not uncommon. And these threats can often prove all too real. Twitch's own streamers have faced violence over a trend of "swatting" in recent years, in which streamers have the police called on them for a fabricated offense. YouTube's offices in California were attacked by a shooter in April 2018, where three employees were non-fatally injured.
The threat comes after a week of turmoil for Twitch and the broader video game industry. Twitch itself lost its perhaps most famous streamer after Microsoft secured an exclusive contract with streamer Ninja. In the broader gaming landscape, the industry was associated with mass shootings by assorted Republican politicians including President Donald Trump.
Source: Business Insider