Bomb Scare "Not Aimed at Gearbox" [Update]

Image Credit: Randy Pitchford

Update: Local police officials do not believe Gearbox was the target of a bomb threat that occurred outside the company’s studio last week.

On October 4, a police department in Texas received a call suggesting a bomb may have been planted in a parking lot which is adjoined to Gearbox’s headquarters.

Though this led to suspicions that Gearbox was the target of a hoax, investigators do not appear convinced.

“We received a tip that there was a bomb of some sort,” said David Tilley, the information officer for the Plano Police Department.

Speaking to Polygon, Tilley added the bomb scare “wound up not being anything.”

“More often than not, that’s exactly the case. From what I understand the owner of the car didn’t have anything to do with Gearbox. There wasn’t any relationship at all, or any tie at all to anybody that we could determine as far as Gearbox was concerned.”

Original Story: A Plano, Texas Police Department bomb disposal team was sent to Borderlands developer Gearbox’s headquarters yesterday to deal with a car bomb threat, according to a series of tweets from Gearbox President Randy Pitchford.

Pitchford said that the the police arrived around 7:30 p.m. CST, after most Gearbox employees had already gone home. As you can see in the picture in Pitchford’s tweet below, the police used a bomb disposal robot, apparently to clear one of the cars in the building’s parking lot. It didn’t find anything.

“I witnessed many police cars, the bomb disposal unit’s bus, the robot and several BDU and PPD personnel working,” Pitchford said. “I (foolishly) was not worried (choosing to believe the threat not credible), but Plano PD was pro, all business and kept everyone safe!”

Bomb disposal robot in action in Gearbox HQ parking lot! #friday pic.twitter.com/IdaL9EXnc3

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) October 4, 2014

Pitchford said the police wouldn’t disclose any details about the threat and at the moment it’s not clear if the it had anything to do with Gearbox, or if it was aimed at one of the other companies that are also in the developer’s building.

In August, a hacker group that said it caused a PlayStation Network outage claimed responsibility for a bomb threat that grounded a plane carrying Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley. The group has been active since, most recently taking responsibility for downing Activision games Destiny and Call of Duty: Ghosts. However, both the group’s website and Twitter account have been taken down earlier this week.

Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer. You can follow him on Twitter @emanuelmaiberg.

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