A gunman opened fire Sunday at an online video game tournament as it was being livestreamed from a Florida mall, killing two people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others, 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 pending as the FBI in Baltimore aided in the investigation.
Nine other people were wounded by gunfire and all were in stable condition Sunday evening after being taken to hospitals, Williams said. He added that two others were injured in the rush to flee the gunfire.
Katz was in Jacksonville for the “Madden NFL 19” video game tournament, authorities said. The games maker, EA Sports, lists a David “Bread” 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 [ATACHED BELOW] that appeared to capture 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.
A witness told the Los Angeles Times that Katz, had played in the tournament earlier and lost.
Another witness, Javaris Long, told the Tampa Bay Times that the suspect was “nerdy” and got mad because he lost, so he went to his car, got his gun, came back and “started blasting everybody.”
Marquis Williams, 28, and his girlfriend, Taylor Poindexter, 26, both from Chicago, were ordering pizza at the bar when they heard the first shot around 1:30 p.m. on what had begun as a quiet Sunday afternoon.
“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.”
He 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 gone to seek experience at the tournament. She never saw the face of the shooter, but added, “We did see him with two hands on a gun walking back just popping rounds.”
It was then, they said, that people trampled others in the panic to escape. Both ran to a nearby restaurant where workers were waving people inside. They hid in a bathroom until police arrived.
Jason Lake, the founder and CEO of compLexity, a company that owns professional esports 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 and never coming back.” Then: “I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb. Worst day of my life.”
On Sunday evening, the FBI said, its agents searched a family home of the man authorities believed was behind the attack.
Heavily armed agents, some in bulletproof vests and brandishing long guns, could be seen entering an upscale townhome complex near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Jacksonville shooting suspect identified as 24-year-old David Katz from Baltimore, Md. – https://t.co/cCsLr6TWZF pic.twitter.com/Yc07xuw9wG
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2018
An FBI spokesman, Dave Fitz, confirmed that agents had gone to the house of the man’s father in Baltimore. He declined to release specifics, citing the ongoing investigation. T.J. Smith, chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, also said that agency was assisting law enforcement partners “with some information that has led authorities to Baltimore.”
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the attack and the White House was monitoring the situation.
The Jacksonville Landing, in the heart of the city’s downtown, also hosts concerts and other entertainment. It was the site of a Trump rally in 2015, early in his campaign for the White House.
The sheriff’s office used Twitter and Facebook immediately after the shooting to warn people to stay far away and to ask anyone who was hiding to call 911. Police also barricaded a three-block radius around the mall and sent in a SWAT team and bomb squad experts to secure the area. Police also took up positions on a bridge spanning the river with a view of the area.
JACKSONVILLE MASS SHOOTING:
– At Least 4 Killed
– 10+ Wounded
– '1 Suspect Dead,' Sheriff Says
– ATF Respondinghttps://t.co/4C7jDtyeyS pic.twitter.com/MDq2XIb53H— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2018
WATCH. Witness describes aftermath of #TheLandingMassShooting
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2018
Florida Governor Being Briefed on #Jacksonville Mass Shooting – https://t.co/4C7jDtyeyS pic.twitter.com/zPjyguWHvu
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2018
Jacksonville Sheriff: ‘We are finding many people hiding in locked areas at The Landing. Call 911 so we can get to you. We ask you to stay calm, stay where you are hiding. SWAT is doing a search inside The Landing. Please don’t come running out.’https://t.co/4C7jDtyeyS
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2018
BREAKING: No Outstanding Suspects In Jacksonville Shooting; Suspect Is Unidentified White Male – Sheriff https://t.co/nfwfYmGAUD
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2018
(AP)
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12 Responses
B’H I was not there, because I am right now in Cornville AZ doing Shemira for John McCain ZT’L.
Poor people.
Since guns are so harmless and good
everyone should have one
it could have been a real western shootout
That someone jewish
could do this…
#3. Just because he has a Jewish last name doesn’t mean he’s Jewish. You don’t know who his mother is. He sure doesn’t have Jewish middos.
Since less than 4 people were murdered by the perp this doesn’t really qualify as a mass shooting according to the accepted definition. It is a tragedy nonetheless.
There was a story in New York where there was a serial killer…and he had a jewish name
someone went to a gadol and told him, and the gadol said a yid is not a murderer…
After they looked in-they found out that he was adopted, and not jewish
JB2, presumably you’re talking about David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam killer. The way I remember it, as soon as he was caught, the media identified him as adopted. According to Wikipedia, his birth mother was Jewish. Of course, there have been other infamous Jewish killers, among them Louis Lepke Buchalter, head of Murder, Inc., who had been an honor roll student at RJJ.
Prayers for the deceased and injured from this terrible attack in Jacksonville.
All crimes can be deconstructed for their Means – Motive – Opportunity.
The ongoing mass shooting problem in the USA shows the “Swords into Plowshares” dynamic must take root in many places now.
David Katz’s Profile/The Chronology:
Victim of repeated CSA in early childhood, between the ages of 3 1/2 to 8 y.o. (1998 to 2002), repressed.
Takes gun and ammunition to the video game tournament > Highly competitive character + Intense focus playing games + Such games are not exercises in empathy > Loses a game > Knocked out of tournament > Snaps > Intense anger/resentment/feeling of entitlement > Decides to shoot up the place > Realises what he has done > Cannot bear the idea of jail > Shoots himself.
Take Note: This is certainly not an IS inspired terrorist attack.
Questions: Where did David Katz have his Bar Mitzvah? Who was his Rabbi? Who was guiding/mentoring him? What was his relationship with his parents, especially his father?
yehudayona- many people believe that David Berkowitz did not commit all the murders he is accused of. There may have been other killers. Still a monster.
Most likely on psychotropic drugs just like the school shooters were. Side effects are rage and suicide.
Adam Neira,yy,etc.,
these discussions
are demeaning to the victims and callous
Should these Questions
With the intermarriage rate now in the 70% the chances of someone with a Jewish family name of being Jewish is about 33%. Correct me if Im wrong any maths pros out there.
A recent news article mentioned that his parents divorced, and not amicably.