A Madden video-game tournament in Florida ended in a mass-shooting Sunday, with a losing competitor killing two people and wounding several others before killing himself.
There were nine other people shot and two otherwise injured in the assault on a gaming room / pizza restaurant in the Jacksonville Landing area downtown.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams told reporters that when first responders arrived within two minutes of getting the first 911 call, there were “three deceased individuals at the scene, one suspect among them.”
He identified the gunman as 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore and said there are no other suspects. The FBI and ATF were searching a home in the Federal Hill neighborhood of southern Baltimore on Sunday evening.
The sheriff declined to speculate on motive, but eyewitnesses told numerous news outlets that he was disgruntled about his defeat at a Madden 19 tournament at the GLHF Game Bar in the Jacksonville Landing, a riverfront mall.
Javaris Long told the Tampa Bay Times that the gunman had got so angry at his loss that he went to his car, got his gun and “started blasting everybody.”
SEE ALSO: David Katz identified as Jacksonville gamer shooting suspect
Reporters posted to Twitter a YouTube video showing a livestream of the football video game being played. About 12 shots could be heard, in bursts of one to three.
There was no immediate word on the identity of the victims or any suggestion other than that Mr. Katz fired at random. The nine people transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds “are all in stable condition,” Sheriff Williams said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office advised people to stay away from the area, a request the sheriff reiterated even after the scene was cleared.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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