Shooting suspect had history of mental illness

BALTIMORE — The suspect in a deadly shooting at a Florida video game tournament had previously been hospitalized for mental illness, according to court records in his home state of Maryland reviewed by The Associated Press.

Divorce filings from the parents of 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore say that as a teenager he was twice hospitalized in psychiatric facilities and that he was prescribed antipsychotic and antidepressant medications.

The records show Katz’s parents disagreed on how to care for their troubled son, with his father claiming his estranged wife was exaggerating symptoms of mental illness as part of their long-running and acrimonious custody battle. The couple divorced in 2007.

Katz killed two people and wounded nine others before fatally shooting himself at the Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., authorities said.

He was known to barely speak to fellow gamers and sometimes exhibited an erratic playing style, according to other competitors.

“We’ve always known he was a little off and stuff just because he wasn’t social at all,” gamer Shay Kivlen, 21, of Seattle, said Monday in an interview.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams has declined to comment on why Katz opened fire inside a gaming bar connected to a pizzeria at The Jacksonville Landing, a collection of restaurants and shops along the St. Johns River.