Amy Schneider, current reigning champion of Jeopardy!, and the first transgender contestant to be on the show’s Tournament of Champions, was robbed at gunpoint in Oakland, California, on Sunday afternoon.
According to this article, the robbery occurred around 3:30 p.m. in the Adams Point neighborhood in downtown Oakland. Two people (one of which was armed) approached Schneider and “demanded the victim’s property.”
Schneider, a 42-year-old engineering manager who originally hails from Dayton, Ohio, complied, handing over her ID, credit cards, and cell phone. She was uninjured, but of course, was left understandably shaken up by the experience, and she shared about the ordeal in a tweet with her loyal Jeopardy! fans.
Amy Schneider opens up on Twitter about robbery
“Hi, all! So, first off: I’m fine,” she assured her followers. “But I got robbed yesterday, lost my ID, credit cards, and phone. I then couldn’t really sleep last night, and have been trying to replace everything.”
She continued in the next tweet, “So, I doubt I’ll even start writing tonight’s game thread today, and if I keep winning, it may take a bit for me to get caught up. Thanks for your patience!”
Who is Amy Schneider?
If you haven’t tuned in to Jeopardy! in a while, then you might not know who Amy Schneider is. It seems like Amy was always destined to be on the popular trivia show, even as a child as she was voted “Most likely to appear on Jeopardy!” by her eighth-grade classmates. After she arrived in Oakland, Amy started applying to be on the beloved game show classic, which has been on the air since 1964.
Amy’s Jeopardy! debut premiered on November 17, 2021, where she beat then-champion Andrew He. To date, she has won more than $900,000.
But it isn’t just Amy’s amazing winning streak and fierce intelligence that make her a true champion: She is also the first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, as well as currently being the highest-earning female contestant to date.
Amy’s fans rally around her
Everyone loves to follow a Jeopardy! Champion, and Amy is no exception, with 57,000 followers and a fan base that continues to grow. Amy posts regularly detailing play-by-plays of each episode, how she figured out the correct answer, and other random tibdits and thoughts from each episode.
“Thanks to all of you,” she tweeted the day before the robbery. “2021 wasn’t the best year for the world, but it turned out to be the best year I’ve ever had! Not only have had this Jeopardy run, but I’ve heard from so many wonderful people. I wish I could respond to all of you, but it’s very much appreciated.”
She did take a small break from tweeting the evening the incident occured.
Amy’s fans completely understood and will continue to support her as the case is investigated.
Tune in to see how much longer Amy can keep up her ever-impressive winning streak.
Jeopardy airs on weeknights at 7 p.m. on ABC.