GAMING CARNAGE
Two dead, 11 injured in rampage
A DISGRUNTLED professional gamer yesterday unloaded a handgun at his competitors after losing his round at a Florida gaming convention.
Video of the moment David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, turned a laser-sighted gun on attendees of the Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, was live-streamed to viewers around the world who had tuned in to watch the competition.
Katz killed two people and injured 11 before turning the gun on himself, police said.
The shooting sparked panic at 2pm local time in a crowded waterfront tourist strip of restaurants and malls known as Jacksonville Landing.
Police were investigating whether a red dot, that appeared to be a laser pointer, seen on the chest of a player in the video showed him being targeted by the killer.
As a dozen shots rang out, a man could be heard calling out “what did he shoot me with?” amid screams. The killer could not be seen.
Within hours of the shoot- ing, police and the FBI raided the Baltimore home that Katz, who played under names including Ravenschamp and Bread, reportedly shared with his parents.
He had previously won a similar tournament in 2017.
Steven ‘Steveyj’ Javaruski, one of the competitors, told local media that the shooter “targeted a few people” before killing himself.
Another gamer, Drini Gjoka, posted on Twitter: “I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb.”
As the shooting sparked panic on Sunday afternoon, hundreds of visitors to the area tried to find their way to safety.
Authorities used social media to try to keep people away.
“The area is not safe at this time,” the sheriff’s office said on Facebook and Twitter.
“We are finding many people hiding in locked areas … We ask you to stay calm, stay where you are hiding. SWAT is doing a methodical search inside The Landing. We will get to you. Please don’t come running out.”
A three-block exclusion zone was created around the mall while Coast Guard boats patrolled the river and police snipers set up on structures overlooking the mall.
President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack, according to the White House.