Twitter has been flooded with news of a stabbing prior to the Marvel Studios panel in Hall H. According to Andy Khouri:
“Hearing conflicting details but it sounds like a dude was stabbed in the face with a pen before the Marvel Studios panel for seat squatting.”

Some people on Twitter claim one of the participants was wearing a Harry Potter T-shirt but it’s not clear if this us a joke or not.

Whatever happened, it will probably be one of the most reported stabbings in history.

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Helper Monkey Update: CBR is reporting it was a pen to the eye. Another CBR story has quotes from police.

Earlier in the day, I read some grousing about the Chuck panel being cut short before getting audience questions. I would guess, from afar, the con folks have to scramble like mad trying to make the trains run on time and probably thanklessly too. I’m surprised there isn’t more violence, especially regarding the Movie Con portion of SD, because of line frustration or seat squatting or the general anger of being in a room with thousands of people.
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1 COMMENT

  1. Looks like they finally found out the maximum frustration threshold of fifty billion frustrated, jazzed up fans….some of which have a tentative grip on reality.

  2. The guy being walked out by security in cuffs was indeed wearing a Harry Potter shirt. There was blood on the shirt.

  3. basically, taking up a seat for a later panel.

    For example, someone wants to see the Marvel Films panel at 6 PM.

    They find a seat in the hall earlier in the day or even first thing in the morning and stay there all day to insure their seat.

    There was friction over this practice last year during the Fables panel with people who wanted to see the Venture Bros. panel afterwards, but no violence, just a lot of nasty words from fans on both sides.

  4. One guy was stabbed in the eye with a pen— apparently, two were arguing during the RESIDENT EVIL panel, and when it was finished, the one pictured stood up and struck the other.

    People around quicky called for help. Hall security subdued the guy who did the stabbing, pinning him down on the floor… BUT it was some 10 mins+ or so before proper help was brought to the victim, who was also laid on the floor, bleeding. Word spread that an SDPD cop got on the scene and handcuffed the attacker.

    Meanwhile, the phone cams all came out, flashes dotted the area around that spot, and people checked Twitter to try to find out EXACTLY was was going on. Of course, this threw a wrench in the carefully slotted p.r. presentations in the Hall. Announcements
    were made on the PA to try to placate the massed audience, and people who had try to leave found out that they couldn’t— as Hall H had become a closed off crime scene.

    About some half hour later, after a rerun of “Trailer Park”, the presentations continued. The PAUL contingent made no reference to the event… Harrison Ford appeared in his first! SDCC handcuffed and brought in by two security men— in reference to his FUGITIVE character and not to the recent event… CAPTAIN AMERICA and THOR likewise made no reference… but Robert Downey Jr. joked ‘Nobody stab nobody while I’m here!’ as he strolled out to the AVENGERS assembled cast.

    I was a couple of aisles over and to the left of the area where it happened next to the MEN’S restroom on the western side of Hall H, and didn’t find out the details until on my Trolley ride back to Old Town and overheard two brothers who were sitting right next to the victim recount what had happened. One of them even joked he had the “evidence” of the victim’s blood splatted on his backpack as he (the victim) fell over him after being attacked… (Was surprised that the Police DID NOT ask him to stay and make a statement as a witness, but he said they cleared the row, and people scattered elsewhere in the Hall.)

    Definitely an SDCC experience I’ll remember.

  5. I’ll be… interesting… to read the Nerderatti’s reactions to this occurrence— and it seems like it’s the sort of event that can dovetail sooo very easily with a pre-existing mindset.

    As evinced already in some of the comments above.

  6. If the CON people would just make every single person leave the room before the next session, it would certainly remove some of the boiling anger I’ve seen at the Cons. Plus, these huge out of control crowds and lines are for the movie groups and not usually for the actual Comic writers or artists.

  7. Clearing the room after each panel would create additional problems and probably additional arguments. Say I’m there for a panel at 1, I also want to see the panel at 2. So at 1:50 they clear the room but people are already lining up for the panel at 2 and have been since before the panel at 1 started. By the time I get out of the 1 Panel, get on the line for the panel at 2 I’m at the back of the bus and possibly/probably won’t get in at all. That would cause lots of arguments and fistfights, and probably some stampeding as people try to exit panels and get on the line for the next panel as fast as possible, ignoring the whole exiting in an orderly fashion thing. Some of those issues could be taken care of with really good crowd control but at the size Comic-Con has grown to there’s only so much guards and volunteers can do.

    The only way to truly avoid this thing is to make the events ticket only, with a stand by line should there be no shows or empty seats. Film festivals operate that way. Of course that opens a whole other set of worms, (“How will tickets be given out?”, “will they start charging extra for Hall H events?”, “Limit the amount of Big events one con goer can go to?”).

    There are no really easy answers, but it should be pointed out that one incident in a crowd this size for an event going on this long is statically speaking really really good. There are concerts and sporting events, many of them ticketed with reserve seats, that have many more and most worst incidents and they don’t run as long as Comic Con does.

  8. I thought I’d come back and acknowledge that the KTLA story was updated as the details were confirmed and now does say it was serious. I wasn’t trying to downplay the story just to say how it was being reported. Now all the stories match up their facts with what was being said on Twitter. Of course, there are a lot of jokes about the story in both avenues.

  9. re: “Say I’m there for a panel at 1, I also want to see the panel at 2. So at 1:50 they clear the room but people are already lining up for the panel at 2 and have been since before the panel at 1 started. By the time I get out of the 1 Panel, get on the line for the panel at 2 I’m at the back of the bus and possibly/probably won’t get in at all.”

    Well, too bad. That’s how the whole “wait in line and acting like an adult and not a selfish child” thing works.

    If you don’t get in, too bad. That’s why people do this thing called “making choices”. People decide which panel they want to see and then wait in line accordingly. It’s impossible to see every panel. The amount of people at the Con has nothing to do with it. It’s been that way since the late 80s, early 90s.

    re: “There are no really easy answers”

    Um…yeah, there is. Get out when the panel is over and wait in line for the next one.

    What the hell is wrong with people?!

  10. “What the hell is wrong with people?!”

    instant gratification and entitlement culture.

    Maybe there should be rooms set up for close-circuit for panel overflow? If you want to see what happends but dont HAVE to be in the room.

    Again, as is often mentioned, surprised that more panels aren’t streamed live or recorded or podcasted.

    I saw that some of the Dark Horse panels were up on Youtube the next day.

  11. “Well, too bad. That’s how the whole “wait in line and acting like an adult and not a selfish child” thing works.”

    Sooo you think someone who chooses to see the one o clock event should automatically be excluded from the 2 o’clock event even though someone who showed up at say, 1:30 would get in? The person who was there at 1:30 showed up after the guy seeing the 1PM event.

    You seem to completely miss the idea that most people can’t be in two places at the same time. I can’t watch the 1 PM event and stand in line for the 2 PM event. It is not unreasonable for someone with a paying ticket who shows up early to expect to be able to see the event from 1-2 and the one that starts at 2 when they are in the same room. To tell people otherwise is practically inviting a riot.

    “If you don’t get in, too bad. That’s why people do this thing called “making choices”. People decide which panel they want to see and then wait in line accordingly. It’s impossible to see every panel.”

    True but it is possible to see back to back panels in the same room, clearing the room could possibly make that impossible.

    “The amount of people at the Con has nothing to do with it. It’s been that way since the late 80s, early 90s.”

    Your experiences differ from mine, granted I wasn’t there in the 80’s but I did go several times in the 90’s and the early 00’s. There were always crowds but they have gotten bigger every year I’ve gone. The last time I was there (2007) was the first time I couldn’t get in to something I wanted to see because the room was full and it was one of the BIG rooms.

    “Um…yeah, there is. Get out when the panel is over and wait in line for the next one.”

    Behind the people who came to the show after me, yeah that seems fair.

  12. re: “Sooo you think someone who chooses to see the one o clock event should automatically be excluded from the 2 o’clock event even though someone who showed up at say, 1:30 would get in? The person who was there at 1:30 showed up after the guy seeing the 1PM event.”

    Yeah, I do. Because you’re not just taking the spot of the person who got there at 1:30 but more than likely the person that stood in line for that event several hours before you, in some cases, a couple days before you. Wise up.

    re: “it is possible to see back to back panels in the same room, clearing the room could possibly make that impossible.”

    Yeah, that might actually mean you have to stand in a line for that event like everyone else. I know it sounds like a horrific idea that requires one to be considerate of the next person, but you’ll feel better about yourself having done it.

    re:”You seem to completely miss the idea that most people can’t be in two places at the same time.”

    Okay…now I know you’re trolling. No one is that stupid. Except for me of course, for taking the bait.

  13. “Yeah, I do. Because you’re not just taking the spot of the person who got there at 1:30 but more than likely the person that stood in line for that event several hours before you, in some cases, a couple days before you. Wise up.”

    And one again, the person for the earlier event was already there before the person for the later event. I don’t understand why you find that such a difficult concept to grasp? Why should someone who showed up for the days events in that room early lose a seat to someone who comes to the show later? That’s not entitlement, that’s a reasonable expectation that someone who PAID for a pass and showed up in line EARLY to ensure they have a spot for the day.

    “Yeah, that might actually mean you have to stand in a line for that event like everyone else.”

    But the person for the earlier event already stood in line, and they were in all likelihood standing in line before the person for the later event. Once again, why is someone who is there earlier loose a seat to someone who comes later?

    “I know it sounds like a horrific idea that requires one to be considerate of the next person, but you’ll feel better about yourself having done it.”

    This has nothing to do with consideration, when you pay for a general seating event, (which is really what the Hall H events are), you come early, you get the best seat you can and it’s yours for as long as you’re there. All day concerts with general seating work on the same principle. (I was just at one on July 4th, no one cleared the park after each act and made people stand in line to get a place for the next act).

    Sometimes that means sitting though stuff you don’t like to see the good stuff that’s usually at the end of the day.

    Consideration is not turning around and stabbing someone over a seat, it also applies to stuff like putting a coat to save a seat that you really don’t need but just want to put your stuff on, or things like talking on a cell phone while the show is going on. What it doesn’t apply to is giving up your seat to someone who showed up later then you did so that they can see the later, usually better bits.

    “Okay…now I know you’re trolling. No one is that stupid. Except for me of course, for taking the bait.”

    No I am not trolling, I am presenting an argument that people who pay for a general seating event can reasonable expect. You however seem to think that someone can see an event in the room and stand in line for the next event in the same room at the same time. That’s not only unreasonable, it’s, you know, impossible.

  14. Here’s a solution: programming that competes against the programming in Hall H. Of course it can’t happen until the convention center expands, but if there was another hall with very similar blockbuster programming, it would pull off some of the pressure and force campers to have to choose to stay or leave to go to the other one. The problem is that Hall H is really Movie Con within Comic Con, with very little in the way of outside draws for much of that audience other than the studio booths on the floor and some programming in Ballroom 20. It’s not like they couldn’t fill two Hall H’s.

    The pen stabbing might be the first widely reported criminal assault at Comic Con, but I recall hearing that a scuffle broke out in the line for The Hobbit panel a couple of years ago (in one of the bigger conference rooms, not Hall H). I guess it was resolved before anyone was seriously injured or the cops were called.

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