FBI: Man threatened mass shooting at Jags-Steelers game

Texas man threatened shooting at Heinz Field on Sunday

SAN ANTONIO – A Texas man is accused of threatening a mass shooting at Sunday's NFL playoff game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers, an arrest affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, police said Yuttana Choochongkol, 30, made multiple threats to kill NFL players, fans and himself during the game in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field, KSAT-TV reported.

The affidavit said that on Thursday, KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh received a threat from Choochongkol that read:

This Sunday's playoff game in Pittsburgh is going to be like no other. Why? Because it's going to be my last day on this pathetic planet. So why not take some innocent lives with me?  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. After all, what does a person that is going to commit suicide have to lose? Absolutely nothing. So why not take out some million dollar Steelers players before me? Sounds like a good idea. Hahahahahah"

That same day, the director of security for Heinz Field received a similar threat from Choochongkol, the affidavit said. The threat was uploaded to heinzfield.com with the same username and IP address, the affidavit said. 

KDKA-TV and Heinz Field officials sent the IP address to the FBI to track the threat, which federal authorities traced to Worldwide Clinical Trials in San Antonio, the affidavit said.

The following statement was issued by Heinz Field: 

The Heinz Field website received a threat concerning the playoff game vs. Jacksonville. We take all threats seriously and turned over information to the FBI and the City of Pittsburgh police. We are thankful law enforcement was able to identify and track down the individual to make an arrest. We appreciate the hard work and attention that our law enforcement provides to our communities.

After looking at security cameras and speaking to workers at the facility, authorities identified the suspect as Choochongkol, of San Antonio.

According to the affidavit, World Wide Clinical Trials said Choochonkol has been a medical trial subject with the company 25 times since 2011.

News4jax crime analyst Gil Smith said an NFL stadium would not be an easy target. He said NFL games are extremely well secured.

“Any NFL stadium is very difficult to attack because of the security measures that are set up long before game day. Every Wednesday, NFL security will get with everyone to see what went wrong with last game and what to watch out for,” Smith said. “The NFL works very closely with the FBI. They (also) have FBI agents at every NFL game."

Choochonkol is charged with making a terroristic threat to the public.


About the Authors:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.

Max Massey is the GMSA weekend anchor and a general assignments reporter. Max has been live at some of the biggest national stories out of Texas in recent years, including the Sutherland Springs shooting, Hurricane Harvey and the manhunt for the Austin bomber. Outside of work, Max follows politics and sports, especially Penn State, his alma mater.