Sheriff: Shooter kills 2, himself
FLA.» A gunman JACKSONVILLE, opened fire Sunday at an online video game tournament as it was being broadcast from a Florida mall, killing two people, wounding several others and then fatally shooting himself, authorities said.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said authorities believe 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore carried out the attack using at least one handgun at the Jacksonville Landing, a collection of restaurants and shops along the St. Johns River. Williams said the man died from a self-inflicted gunshot, adding final confirmation of the suspect’s identity was still pending as the FBI was helping the investigation in Baltimore.
Nine other people were wounded by gunfire and all were in stable condition Sunday evening after going to hospitals, Williams said. Two others were hurt as people sought to flee the gunfire in the panic and chaos that ensued.
Katz was in Jacksonville for the “Madden NFL 19” video game tournament, authorities said. The game’s maker, EA Sports, lists a David Katz as a 2017 championship winner.
The competition was held in a gaming bar that shares space with a pizzeria. Viewers could watch the games online and see the players.
Investigators were looking into online video that appeared to cap-
ture the scene right before the shooting began, Williams said. A red dot that appears to be a laser pointer is visible on the chest of a player seconds before the first of about a dozen gunshots rings out.
Marquis Williams, 28, and his girlfriend, Taylor Poindexter, 26, both from Chicago, were ordering pizza at the bar when they heard the first shot.
“Initially we thought it was a balloon popping, but there weren’t any balloons in the room,” said Williams, who had taken part in the tournament earlier. “Then we heard repeat shots and we took off running.”
Williams added: “The first shot everybody just turned and looked. After the second, third and fourth shots, everybody took off and ran for the exits.”
Poindexter, an aspiring gamer, said she had hoped to gain some experience at the tournament. She said she never saw the face of the man who was shooting. But she recalled, “We did see him with two hands on a gun walking back just popping rounds.”
The two ran to a nearby restaurant, where workers were waving people in, hidcoming ing in a bathroom until police arrived.
Jason Lake, the founder and CEO of compLexity, a company that owns professional e-sports teams, said on Twitter that one of his players, 19-year-old Drini Gjoka, was shot in the thumb.
Gjoka tweeted: “The tourney just got shot up. Im leavinng (sic) and never back.” Then: “I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb. Worst day of my life.”
On Sunday evening, an FBI official in Baltimore confirmed that agents were searching the family home of the man authorities said they believe was behind the attack. An FBI spokesman, Dave Fitz, said agents had gone to the house of the man’s father in Baltimore. He declined to release specifics.
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the attack and officials at the White House were monitoring the situation.
The Jacksonville Landing, in the heart of downtown, also hosts concerts and other entertainment. It was the site of a Trump rally in 2015 in his campaign for the White House.