3 Dead, Including Shooter, as Man Opens Fire at Video Game Tournament in Jacksonville
Two people were killed and 11 more were injured by a gunman who opened fire at a video game tournament Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida, authorities said.
The gunman — identified as David Katz, 24, of Baltimore — took his own life at the scene, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams announced at a Sunday evening news conference.
The shooter attended the tournament, but authorities have not discussed a motive, according to Williams. He used at least one handgun.
Of the 11 victims hospitalized, nine had gunshot wounds, Williams said. All were described as being in stable condition.
The shooting, which was first reported at 1:34 p.m., took place at the GLHF Game Bar inside the Jacksonville Landing shopping and dining complex, during a tournament for the football game Madden NFL 19.
A series of 12 gunshots was heard on the tournament’s live video stream, where a voice could be heard saying, “Oh, f—, what’d he shoot me with?” while others screamed.
Williams said Sunday night that authorities have obtained the footage and are asking the public for any additional video, but he did not specify which clips police have watched.
The names of the victims have not been announced.
A search is pending of the gunman’s vehicle, Williams said. Officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are assisting in Baltimore, he said.
More information about the shooter would be released later Sunday night, according to Williams.
The Jacksonville massacre is the latest example of the mass shootings that are now endemic to America.
It comes about one month after a shooting at the Capital Gazette in Maryland killed five people. A month before that, 10 people were killed at Santa Fe High School in Texas. Three months before that, 17 people were fatally shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
One tournament participant, 19-year-old Drini Gjoka, wrote on Twitter that he’d been shot in the thumb: “The tourney just got shot up. [I’m leaving] and never coming back.”
Gjorka added in separate tweets, “I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb,” and “Worst day of my life.”
Jason Lake, CEO and founder of Gjoka’s employer, compLexity Gaming, was watching the live-stream of the tournament when he heard the gunfire.
“You have that hesitation where you’re like, ‘There’s no way it could be gunfire,’ ” Lake tells PEOPLE.
Lake says he saw Gjoka’s tweets before he was able to talk with him, describing the situation as “surreal.”
Speaking to reporters alongside Sheriff Williams on Sunday night, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the city “is mourning.”
“We have faced an occurrence that is all too common and will require us to do the hard work of public safety to make sure that people are safe,” Curry said, adding, “Tonight we pray for the wounded and we pray for the families for those who are lost.”
