Three people were killed and 11 others wounded Sunday when a video game tournament competitor went on a shooting rampage before turning the gun on himself in the northern Florida city of Jacksonville, local police said.
Sheriff Mike Williams named the suspect of the shooting at a Madden 19 American football eSports tournament as 24-year-old David Katz from Baltimore, Maryland.
Katz died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he shot multiple people, police said. In addition to the dead, 11 other people were injured nine of them with gunshot wounds.
The shooter, David Katz, 24, killed himself after the shooting and that his body was found along with those of his two victims. at the restaurant in Jacksonville.
Williams said Katz was a competitor in the eSports tournament and used “at least one handgun” to carry out the shooting
In disturbing footage apparently captured as part of a livestream on video gaming website Twitch, several gunshots could be heard in the background, before the stream disconnected.
He said local fire and rescue transported nine victims seven of whom had gunshot wounds to local hospitals, while another two people who were shot took their own transportation to hospital.
Madden is a hugely popular multi-player video game based on the National Football League, which in a statement said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy.”
The tournament at The Landing entertainment and shopping complex a regional qualifier for finals in Las Vegas with a $25,000 prize took place at the GLHF Game Bar.
Sheriff Williams said the shooting occurred inside the Chicago Pizza restaurant in the complex around 1:30 pm (1730 GMT).
Twitch removed the video, but it remained available on social media. Police said they were in possession of footage capturing the incident.
“This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved,” Madden’s creator, EA Sports, said in a statement.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio said that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were investigating Sunday’s shooting.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said he had offered state support in the aftermath, and that President Donald Trump had offered “any federal resources needed.”
Earlier On February 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing seventeen students and staff members and injuring seventeen others.
Witnesses identified nineteen-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz as the assailant, and he was arrested in Coral Springs by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office shortly after he escaped the scene; Cruz had purchased food at Walmart and McDonald’s restaurants after leaving the scene of the shooting.
Cruz confessed to being the perpetrator, and he was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Police and prosecutors have not yet offered a motive and are investigating “a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior
