zomba has dangerous encounter while traveling for Shine 2022
Top R.O.B. player Salvatore “zomba” DeSena shocked the Super Smash Bros. community when he revealed that he was in potentially dangerous situation that required he call the police while in Worcester, Mass. for Shine 2022.
On Twitter, he started off by simply stating he “just had to call the cops” without any further detail. The first response was someone asking why, to which zomba explained that a “really [suspicious]” person was staring at him and his friends at a hotel. The three of them passed the strange man, who then said: “Don’t worry. You guys aren’t the people I plan on killing tonight.”
The man then started following zomba and his friends around for a little while.
just had to call the cops ama
— zomba (@SalvatoreZomba) August 28, 2022
Another person asked if zomba and his friends, fellow Smash players Yonni and DDog, were okay. zomba replied that they were “spooked” but “def safe.” They had gone back into their hotel room and locked the door soon after. Then zomba called the police to report the creepy man.
When the cops came, they apparently assessed the situation and found the man to just be a “f**king drunk wacko.” It didn’t make the situation any less creepy at the time, but he tweeted that he was relieved he had been able to see something was wrong so quickly.
enough time has passed i think its all good. cops came and basically he was just a fucking drunk wacko. def in the moment way scarier and im glad I was able to tell he wasn't right instantly lmao
— zomba (@SalvatoreZomba) August 28, 2022
The community begged zomba and his friends to stay safe. Ethan “Peanut” Masterman urged them to stay inside their hotel room the rest of the night.
He literally stared at us the entire time as we walked down this long ass hallway and then says that shit bruh
— yonni (@FrYonni) August 28, 2022
Worcester isn’t the most crime-riddled city a Smash tournament has been in. The city is considered safer than 21% of US cities, according to crime statistics. There are about 1,200 violent crimes a year. There have been murders around Worcester this year, however. Luckily the man in the hotel didn’t follow through on his violent threat, possibly thanks to zomba calling the police.
