A New Jersey gamer traveled 17 hours to attack his Florida-based rival over a dispute in the MMORPG game ArcheAge. And not for nothing; the perpetrator attacked his opponent with a hammer.

Game dispute carried over to real life

On the morning of June 20, Edward Kang from New Jersey flew to Florida, where he broke into the home of Zachary Dinh and attacked him with a hammer over a dispute in the MMORPG game ArcheAge. Nassau County Florida police said Kang had never met Dinh in person before, but they had interacted in the game. Police said the incident was the result of an online argument.

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The authorities’ statement reads: “I don’t know what happened between the victim and the suspect, but something made the suspect want to come to Florida and injure the other person.”

Kang flew from Newark to Jacksonville and checked into a hotel in Florida on June 21. Telling his family that he was visiting a friend in Florida, Kang bought a hammer and flashlight from a local hardware store. Early Sunday morning, Kang, dressed in black clothes and wearing a mask, entered Dinh’s home through an unlocked door and began attacking him with a hammer. Dinh’s stepfather heard the noise and intervened, subduing the attacker and calling the police.

Dinh was treated in hospital for severe head injuries and later released, the New York Times reported. Kang was arrested on charges of attempted second-degree murder and armed robbery and is being held without bail at the Nassau County jail. Kang admitted to assaulting someone by calling his mother, but said he had no intention of killing Dinh.

Sheriff Leeper, who led the investigation, said at the press conference, “This is a strange case. Some things surprise you. Some things make you say, ‘What was this guy thinking?’ And some things make you say, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ This event gives you all four of those emotions at once,” he said. When asked why he attacked Kang with a hammer, he explained, “Because he’s a toxic gamer.”

Ironically, ArcheAge, the MMORPG game that Kang and Dinh interacted with, shut down on June 27 due to lack of users. What do you think? Please don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.