Jacksonville Landing shooter David (((Katz))) described as gamer angry after losing in tournament

[The Bobster]

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...-Shooting-Jacksonville-landing-491753611.html

'Multiple Fatalities' Reported in 'Mass Shooting' at Jacksonville Video Game Tournament: Sheriff
The Jacksonville Sheriff tweeted that there were "multiple fatalities"
By Torey Van Oot
Published 6 hours ago | Updated 2 hours ago

Multiple people are dead after a mass shooting at an entertainment complex hosting a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, authorities said.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Department confirmed news of the shooting at Jacksonville Landing, a mall and event space, via Twitter just after 2 p.m. Sunday. Officials have not released a death toll but confirmed that there were "multiple fatalities" with "many" transported to hospitals." The Associated Press, citing a source, is reporting that four are dead.

Officials offered few details at a late afternoon press conference, except to say that the scene has been cleared and that the sole suspect in the shooting, identified only as a white male, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was not clear if the official included the suspect in the death toll.

The shooting "appears to have occurred inside a pizza restaurant that includes a bar dedicated to video games and other forms of gaming," NBC News is reporting. The bar was hosting a Madden 19 Southeastern Qualifier Tournament at the time, according to NBC. Multiple shots could be heard ringing out in a video from an XBox Live stream that purports to capture the gunfire at the tournament. NBC News has not confirmed the authenticity of the video.

A red dot that appears to be a laser pointer is visible on the chest of a player seconds before the first of a dozen gunshots rings out.

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 leaving and never coming back." Then: "I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb. Worst day of my life."

Electronic Arts, the company that makes the popular football video game, confirmed that it is "aware of an incident at a sanctioned Madden Championship Series competition in Jacksonville."

"This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved," the company tweeted.

The sheriff's office used Twitter and Facebook to warn people to stay far away and to ask anyone who was hiding to call 911.

"We are finding many people hiding in locked areas at The Landing. We ask you to stay calm, stay where you are hiding. SWAT is doing a methodical search inside The Landing. We will get to you. Please don't come running out," the sheriff's office said via Twitter.

The sheriff's office did not provide any other information, but also warned reporters to stay away from the area.

Police barricaded a three-block radius around the mall. Officers and Coast Guard boats patrolled the nearby river. Many ambulances could be seen in the area, but the mall area appeared empty of all but law enforcement. Police also took up positions on a bridge overlooking the river.

The Jacksonville Landing, in the heart of the city's downtown, also hosts concerts and other entertainment. It was the site of a Donald Trump rally in 2015, early in his campaign for the White House.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president has been briefed on the incident and is monitoring the situation. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio responded on Twitter, reiterating that the "situation still unfolding, law enforcement is asking everyone to avoid the area."

 

[voiceofreason]

https://heavy.com/news/2018/08/david-katz-bread-ravenschamp/

David Katz: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

David Katz has been identified as the gunman who opened fire Sunday during a Madden NFL 19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, killing two people and wounding nine others, authorities said at a press conference.

The 24-year-old Katz, a Maryland resident who fatally shot himself at the scene, was described as a “disgruntled” gamer who had participated in the Madden tournament, sources told Fox News’ Rick Leventhal. Katz has used the names Bread, mrslicedbread, ravenschamp and ravens2012champ in Madden competitions.

The mass shooting happened about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at The Jacksonville Landing, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter. The GLHF Gaming Bar inside Chicago Pizza was hosting a satellite tournament for a nationwide EA Sports-sanctioned Madden NFL 19 competition that will culminate in a Las Vegas event with $125,000 on the line. The Jacksonville tournament, which started Saturday, was the first qualifier to be held in the Madden 19 Classic.

The event was being shown on Twitch, a live streaming video platform, and that live stream captured the moments that gun shots rang out. You can watch that disturbing video here. Police initially said four people were killed, but later said three were dead including the shooter.

This story is still developing and will be updated with more information about David Katz as it is available. Here is what we know so far about him and the shooting:

1. The Suspect Lost in the Madden Tournament & ‘Targeted a Few People’ Before Shooting Himself, Witnesses Say

A witness told the Los Angeles Times that the shooter, identified as David Katz, had played in the tournament earlier and lost. Steven “Steveyj” Javaruski, who was another competitor in the tournament, told the newspaper the gunman came back to the event with a gun and “targeted a few people” before fatally shooting himself.

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.”

Drini Gjoka, another one of the gamers, tweeted, “I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb. Worst day of my life. I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second.”

 

[voiceofreason]

but the news is saying he was white......

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2018/08/26/video-game-tournament-shooting-suspect-identified/

Video game tournament shooting suspect identified
By Aaron Feis
August 26, 2018 | 7:59pm | Updated

A sore loser opened fire on his fellow video-gamers at a Madden football tournament Sunday in Florida, killing two as the horror played out live online, reports and officials said.

Just before the first of a dozen shots rang out around 1:30 p.m., video footage caught a red-laser dot creeping up a player’s torso at the GLHF Game Bar in the Jacksonville Landing open-air mall.

The camera then cut away from the players as screams filled the background and one of the gamer’s controllers abruptly disconnected.

“Oh f–k! What did he shoot me with?” one victim can be heard yelling between shots in the clip, which didn’t capture video of the carnage.

By the time gunman David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, Md., ended his rampage, two people were dead and another nine injured, according to local TV station News4Jax.

Katz fatally shot himself with his semiautomatic handgun afterward.

The shooter snapped and began targeting rivals after losing his match, fellow gamer Steven “Steveyj” Javaurski told the Los Angeles Times.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office frantically warned people to keep out of the area in a string of tweets chronicling the early minutes of the mayhem.

“Mass shooting at the Jacksonville Landing. Stay far away from the area,” read the first tweet at 2:13 p.m, roughly 45 minutes after initial social media reports of the shoot-up. “The area is not safe at this time. STAY AWAY.”

As cops set up a three-block perimeter around the riverfront mall and SWAT teams methodically swept through the blood-drenched gaming bar and pizzeria, officials urged terrified survivors to call 911 and stay hunkered down.

“We will get to you,” another tweet read. “Please don’t come running out.”

Once responders confirmed that the shooter was dead, they turned to triaging the more than one dozen victims, whom officials didn’t immediately name.

At least six victims were hospitalized, with one in stable condition and the other five stable, authorities said. They were between 20 and 35 years old.

It was unclear whether they included the two competitors seen in the clip that captured the start of the hellish assault: Wesley “Joe Rice” Gittens and Eli “Trueboy” Clayton, who was the target of the red laser dot.

At least two other gamers were reported among the wounded victims.

“The tourney just got shot up. Im leavinng [sic] and never coming back,” tweeted 19-year-old competitor Drini “Young Drini” Gjoka. “I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb.

“Worst day of my life,” he added.

Fellow competitor Timothy “Olarry” Anselimo was also among the injured, according to his mother.

“My son was shot 3 times,” tweeted Sujeil Lopez. “Please keep him in your prayers.”

Jason Lake, the founder and CEO of CompLexity Gaming, for whom Young Drini plays, told CNN, “To have someone walk into an event like this that’s all about good sportsmanship and teamwork and just good vibes, and do something like this, it’s heartbreaking.”

“I think that the eSports industry as a whole is going to have to step back and take a look at further strengthening our security,” Lake said.

The sanctioned tournament in this year’s installment of the popular Madden NFL video game franchise offered $5,000 in prizes, with the top two finishers qualifying for spots in the Madden Classic Live Finals in Las Vegas.

“Today, this evening, and tonight, Jacksonville is mourning,” Mayor Lenny Curry said. “Pray for jacksonville as we deal with this senseless tragedy.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump had been briefed on the shooting, but no comment was immediately released by the White House.

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

David Katz: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Fun 6th Fact shooting happened on August 26, 2018
Fun 7th Fact, Jacksonville's shooting happened on August 26, 2023
5 years later to the day. Wouldn't ya know it, the AR-15 covered with swastikas.

Jewish suspected gunman in gamer tourney shooting described as loner

24-year-old David Katz thought to be shooter who killed 2, injured 11 before turning gun on himself

www.timesofisrael.com

Jewish suspected gunman in gamer tourney shooting described as loner​

24-year-old David Katz thought to be shooter who killed 2, injured 11 before turning gun on himself​

By Agencies and ToI Staff 27 August 2018, 9:27 am 7

Neighbors and others described David Katz, the gunman who shot up a video game tournament on Sunday, killing two people and injuring 11 before turning the gun on himself, as someone who kept to himself.


Katz, 24, is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in the northern Florida city of Jacksonville.


Sheriff Mike Williams said final confirmation of the suspect’s identity was pending as the FBI in Baltimore aided in the investigation.
A crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun tweeted that court records relating to the divorce of Katz’s parents say that he had “significant medical problems and healthcare needs.”

According to Business Insider, announcers at a 2017 tournament said that Katz was not showing “much emotion” while playing his games.
“David Katz keeps to himself. He’s a man of business,” the announcer said. “He’s not here to make friends.”


“You can’t even get him to open up about anything, it’s like pulling teeth,” he added.


Neighbors and others described David Katz, the gunman who shot up a video game tournament on Sunday, killing two people and injuring 11 before turning the gun on himself, as someone who kept to himself.
Katz, 24, is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in the northern Florida city of Jacksonville.
Sheriff Mike Williams said final confirmation of the suspect’s identity was pending as the FBI in Baltimore aided in the investigation.


A crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun tweeted that court records relating to the divorce of Katz’s parents say that he had “significant medical problems and healthcare needs.”


Police cars block off a street near the scene of a mass shooting at Jacksonville Landing in Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 26, 2018 (AP Photo/John Raoux)

According to Business Insider, announcers at a 2017 tournament said that Katz was not showing “much emotion” while playing his games.

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“David Katz keeps to himself. He’s a man of business,” the announcer said. “He’s not here to make friends.”

“You can’t even get him to open up about anything, it’s like pulling teeth,” he added.

According to an eyewitness who spoke to the LA Times, Katz opened fire at the tournament after having been eliminated earlier in the day.

Another eyewitness told Action News Jax that Katz, known as “Bread” online, had been acting strangely before the shooting.


“He had shades on. He didn’t speak to anybody. After we played, I went to shake his hand and tell him good game and he just looked at me and didn’t say anything,” the witness said.

Katz was reportedly Jewish.

On Sunday evening, the FBI said, its agents searched a family home of the man authorities believed was behind the attack. Photographs from the scene of the raid appeared to show a mezuzah attached to the doorframe.

Jewish religious law and customs require that mezuzahs be affixed to door frames on the portal’s external frame.

Heavily armed agents, some in bulletproof vests and brandishing long guns, could be seen entering an upscale townhome complex near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

An FBI spokesman, Dave Fitz, confirmed that agents had gone to the house of Katz’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 the agency was assisting law enforcement partners “with some information that has led authorities to Baltimore.”

A neighbor said that Katz and his father were unassuming.


“There’s nothing remarkable about them,” said a neighbor. “There’s not anything suspicious about them at all. We have lived here for a long time and we never talk to them.”


A reporter for WBAL-TV in Baltimore said that according to Maryland court records, Katz’s parents were divorced in 2007 and that at the time, his father worked for NASA and his mother for the FDA.


At the tournament, eyewitnesses 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 recognized them as gunfire and began scrambling for an exit.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s officers patrol around the ships at Jacksonville Landing on August 26, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida (Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images/AFP)

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. Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said the gunman killed two people and shot nine others before fatally shooting himself.


Madden is a hugely popular multi-player video game based on the National Football League, which in a statement said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy.”


The tournament at The Landing entertainment and shopping complex — a regional qualifier for finals in Las Vegas with a $25,000 prize — took place at the GLHF Game Bar.


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

Jacksonville Sheriff’s officers patrol the St. Johns River in front of Jacksonville landing after a shooting on August 26, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida (Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images/AFP

“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 and stuff.”


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


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


Another player, “DubDotDUBBY,” said a bullet had grazed his head.


“I feel fine, just a scratch on my head. Traumatized and devastated,” he tweeted.


Jones said he knew Katz by the gamer tags he used online — often “Bread” or “Sliced Bread” — and had played against him online but had never spoken to him personally.


In 2017, Katz won a similar tournament in Buffalo.