Two Killed in Shooting at Jacksonville Landing Video Game Tournament

Two people were killed and several others were injured by a gunman at a Madden 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Aug 27, 2018

Two people were killed and 11 others were injured when a gunman open fired in a restaurant hosting an esports video game tournament on Sunday, August 25.

Fifty to 100 people were gathered inside a restaurant at The Landing, an open-air marketplace in Jacksonville, Fla., when shots rang out. Calls to 911 were placed at 1:34 p.m. and first responders arrived on the scene two minutes later.

According to police, there were three deceased people at the scene when they arrived — two victims and the suspected shooter, a 24-year-old white male who police believe traveled from Baltimore, Md. to participate in the Madden 19 video game tournament. Police have not released a motive for the shooting, but did say the suspect brought at least one handgun to carry out the shooting.

Nine victims were transferred to local hospitals with gun shot wounds. Two others got themselves to a hospital with injuries stemming from the mass chaos of the event.

The shooting unfolded in the middle of the tournament, while it was being livestreamed on Twitch, a popular video game streaming website. The video captured audio of the incident as it happened: people screaming, shots ringing out, one person cried out, "What did he shoot me with?"

Police worked closely with ATF and law enforcement in Baltimore as they closed in on the suspect's home in Maryland. Police believe that the gunman came to Jacksonville with the sole intention of participating in the video game tournament, but it was not immediately clear if he had taken a flight with his gun checked. Investigators were also looking for clues as to where he stayed the night before the tournament.

The shooting is the last in a long string of public mass shootings in Florida: a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland earlier this year; five people were gunned down at the Fort Lauderdale airport last year; and 49 people were shot dead at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.

"We have got to change," Gov. Rick Scott told reporters on Sunday night. "We've got to really stop and say to ourselves: there's something wrong. Why are young men willing to give up their life, or why don't they value somebody else's life?"