Sore loser

A gamer who lost a video game tournament held at a popular mall in Jacksonville, Florida, went on a shooting spree, killing two people and injuring 11 others.

JACKSONVILLE: Marquis Williams and Taylor Poindexter at first thought they heard a balloon popping. When the loud bangs kept coming, the Chicago couple and fellow video gamers attending a weekend tournament recognised them as gunfire and scrambled for an exit.

As he fled, Williams, 28, said, he could see the back of the gunman’s head as the attacker appeared to be walking backward as he fired.

“We didn’t see like a face,” Poindexter, 26, told reporters a few hours after the attack, standing on crutches after spraining her ankle trying to escape.

“We did see him with two hands on a gun, walking back just popping rounds.”

The couple said people trampled others in the panic to escape. They ran to a nearby restaurant, where workers were waving people inside, and hid in a bathroom until police arrived.

The deadly violence stunned gamers competing Sunday in Jacksonville during a Madden NFL 19 video game tournament.

The competition was held in a gaming bar that shares space with a pizzeria. Viewers could watch the games online and see the players.

The sheriff said the suspect, David Katz, was attending the tournament in Florida.

The Madden game’s maker, EA Sports, lists a David Katz as a 2017 championship winner.

“No one deserves to die over playing a videogame, you know?” said Madden competitor Derek Jones, 30, of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“We’re just out here trying to win some money for our families.”

Jones said he was sitting in a back patio outside the tournament venue when he heard the gunshots. He jumped a fence and ran, leaving behind his backpack and cellphone.

“I’m glad I lost today,” Jones said. “Because if I’d won, I would have been in that game bar playing a game and not paying attention. And he could have come and I’d probably be dead now.” — AP

We’re just out here trying to win some money for our families. Derek Jones