Security is always tighter come playoff time, and with good reason in Pittsburgh after a man made threats to both players and fans.
The FBI has been in the news a lot lately for political reasons, but its employees continue to do good work protecting the country. This week, they helped head off a potentially dangerous situation ahead of Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
WTAE in Pittsburgh reports that an arrest was made for a man making terroristic threats before the playoff game, vowing to kill players and fans before taking his own life. The FBI was able to trace a specific threat he posted to the official Heinz Field website to the IP address of a San Antonio country.
The man making the threats was identified as 30-year-old Yuttana Choochongkol. The following was the message he reportedly posted to heinzfield.com:
"“This Sunday’s playoff game in Pittsburgh is going to be like no other… The Steelers game will be packed and that’s when I plan on killing Steelers football players and fans before taking my own pitiful life.”"
Next: Fans upset by Titans-Patriots officiating
The NFL and FBI are constantly on the lookout for threats of this nature and have no choice but to take them very seriously considering the large targets that NFL stadiums present for would-be terrorists. The ensuing investigation will no doubt reveal whether Choochongkol was prepared to carry out the actions he promised, but both fans and players can rest a little bit easier tonight knowing that if he as, law enforcement officials got to him first.