Twitch streamer suspended after accidentally shooting real gun at his computer

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Editor

A professional gamer has been suspended from Twitch and dropped from his eSports team after accidentally shooting a gun at his computer during a live stream.

Carl Riemer, a popular Call of Duty streamer who plays under the handle SoarCarl, brandished the weapon in front of his viewers while apparently drunk.

"B***h say I ain't got money," he said, before discharging the weapon. "What the f***? I swear to god I just emptied the mag."

Shortly after the incident Twitch suspended his account and blocked all of his content.

The platform's guidelines state it has a zero-tolerance policy towards streamers using "weapons to physically threaten, intimidate, harm, or kill others".

Mr Riemer explained the fall-out from his mistake in a video posted to YouTube the next day, which he titled 'I got suspended from Twitch, don't do what I did'.

"Last night, I possibly ruined the rest of my life and years of hard work. Last night I was being stupid on my stream, as I normally am... I was clearly intoxicated but the fact of the matter is, whether I was sober or intoxicated, guns are not a toy," he said.

The bullet passed through a metal cup and deflected onto his computer, destroying a $1,000 monitor.

"I have no idea if I'm ever going to be able to come back to Twitch, I just made such a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake," he said. "All I can say is I'm sorry and I deserve everything, every bit of backlash."

The SoaRGaming eSports team announced that it had dropped Mr Reimer shortly after the Twitch ban.

"We do not condone the actions on livestream by Carl last night," the team wrote on Twitter. "He has been removed from the SoaR Gaming roster effective immediately."