Florida Mass Shooting at Football Video Game Bar Leaves Two Killed and Several Injured

Florida wakes up to yet another mass shooting, this time at Jacksonville landing complex, where youngsters had gathered to play an online video football game.

Youngsters had gathered at the GLHF game bar in the back room of a restaurant at the Jackson landing complex. They had come to play the competitive Madden football game. The individuals who would be selected would go on to play in Las Vegas and win cash prizes in the month of October. A 24-year-old youngster from Baltimore, by the name of David Katz, was also among them. On Sunday, while youngsters were engrossed in the game, David Katz brought a gun and began shooting at others in the parlor before ultimately turning the gun on himself. The gunshots erupted when the game was being broadcasted live on the internet.

Three people including the suspect have been killed in the shooting while 12 people suffered gunshots. The victims have been admitted to hospital and are said to be in a stable condition. The game had to be interrupted when the gunshots were heard. People began screaming and running for their lives. Among them was Ryen Alemon who was engrossed in the game, when it finally dawned on him that the gunshots he heard were actually real. He had to quickly run and take cover in a washroom. He was in the restroom for about ten minutes before he could come out. "I'm still shocked, I can hardly talk," he told CNN. A video has been released while the tournament was being broadcasted online and viewers have been warned that the video recording is quite disturbing.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said that a number of calls reporting gun firing started pouring in after 1:30 pm. According to Randy Wyse, President of the Jacksonville Association of fire-fighters, seven members of the Jacksonville Firestation known as the ‘The Rock’ were doing their routine training a few distances away, when a number of people came running out of the complex. One of the victims pulled up his shirt and showed where he had been shot in the chest. A second person with a gunshot soon followed after him. The fire-fighters began administering first aid as victims ran out one after the other, from the complex. They encountered three dead bodies in total that included suspect David Katz’s body.

Ironically David Katz had won Madden football tournaments earlier and he played by the name of “Bread.” In February 2017, the Buffalo Bills even tweeted a picture of him after he won Madden 17 Bills Championship. After his win, he gave an interview with former Buffalos player Steve Tasker and said, "I think personally I'm one of the better players."

The police have cleared the landing and advised locals to stay clear of it as it is not safe at this time. Apart from David Katz there are no other suspects at the moment. Police have advised locals to reach out to them, if they have additional information.

It was a black day for all the citizens of Florida as the state has witnessed several such mass shootings in the recent years. There was a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando where 49 people lost their lives. At the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, 17 people were killed in Parkland. Five people were gunned down at the Fort Lauderdale airport last year. This leaves us pondering with only one question. Why is Florida becoming a victim of these tragic mass shootings?  According to Gov. Rick Scott “We have got to change, we’ve got to really stop and say to ourselves: there's something wrong."