FLORIDA SHOOTING VICTIMS JUST WANTED TO EARN MONEY FOR COLLEGE, FAMILY
JACKSONVILLE— A California man who played video games to earnmoney for college and aWest Virginian whose e-sports winnings helped support his young family were slain at a Florida tournament where a gunman specifically targeted fellow gamers, authorities said onMonday.
Mental illness
David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, fatally shot himself after killing the two men and wounding 10 others on Sunday inside a pizzeria and bar that were hosting a “Madden NFL 19” tournament.
Katz was among about 130 gamers attending the competition at a mall in Jacksonville.
Court records in Maryland reviewed by the Associated Press (AP) show Katz had previously been hospitalized for mental illness.
Divorce filings from his parents say that as an adolescent he was twice hospitalized in psychiatric facilities and was prescribed antipsychotic and antidepressant medications.
Katz carried two handguns, including one equipped with a laser sight, into the tournament venue but only fired one of them, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams told a news conference on Monday.
“The suspect clearly targeted other gamers who were in the back room” of the pizzeria, Williams said.
“The suspect walked past patrons who were in other parts of the business and focused his attention on the gamers.”
Investigators determined Katz bought both guns in Balti- more within the past month.
In a statement on Monday evening, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said he was canceling the remaining qualifier events to focus on safety.
Qualifiers canceled
“We have made a decision to cancel our three remaining Madden Classic qualifier events while we run a comprehensive review of safety protocols for competitors and spectators.”
The sheriff’s office identified the dead as 22-year-old Elijah Clayton of Woodland Hills, California, and 28-year-old Taylor Robertson of Giles, West Virginia.
A cousin, Brandi Pettijohn, said the family was “devastated by yet another senseless act of gun violence.” She said Clayton was a good, peaceful man who never had a fistfight.
“He made a good living gaming, and he saved his earnings so he could afford to go to college to continue his education,” Pettijohn said.
Robertson, who used the gamer tag “Spotmeplzzz,” won the Madden Classic tournament in 2016.
Dedicated family man
In a YouTube interview published by EA Sports, Robertson said he had played Madden NFL since he was 10 and started playing competitively a few years ago.
“It’s certainly possible for any player to do this,” Robertson said in the video. “You’ve just got to put in the time.”
Fellow gamers described Robertson as a family man dedi- cated to his wife and children.
Gamer Derek Jones, who lost to Robertson in the 2016 tournament, said his onetime rival was “one of the nicest people I ever met.”
“There’s no way that guy did anything to deserve to get shot,” said Jones, who traveled to the Florida tournament from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“He’s got a family at home, and he just came out here to try to win somemoney for this family.”
Gamer Shay Kivlen of Seattle said he met Clayton, whose gamer tag was “Trueboy,” about five years ago. They bonded because both of them played games on a PlayStation 4.
About a week before the Florida shootings, Kivlen said, he was visiting San Diego and Clayton drove two and a half hours in rush hour traffic to meet him.
“He was one of the kindest people, most genuine guys I’ve ever met,” said Kivlen, 21.
Kivlen and Jones said they barely knew Katz, who seemed to avoid conversation with fellow players during tournaments. Katz’s gameplay was often erratic, Kivlen said.
Kivlen, who said he had once beaten Katz for a coveted spot in a tournament, heard from a friend that Katz was asking for his whereabouts shortly before the shooting.
After losing his single-elimination game on Sunday, Kivlen said, he left to take a nap at his hotel about 20 minutes before the attack. He was watching a livestream of the tournament online when the gunfire erupted.