Shooting suspect David Katz was in constant conflict with his mother and often went days without bathing, according to papers shown to the court in Jacksonville, Florida.
Katz's mother wrote in a divorce filing in 2007 that her son's hair 'would very often go unwashed for days' and that he would argue with her about the use of the family television, which he wished to use to play video games.
"When I took his gaming equipment controllers away so he couldn't play at three or four in the morning, I'd get up and find that he was just walking around the house in circles," said Elizabeth Katz.
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Court documents also quoted his father, Richard Katz, as saying that the pair would call the police on each other about very trivial matters, such as David complaining that his mother was watching too much television and her alleging that he spent too much time playing video games.
Elizabeth Katz added that David had once punched a door through when she confiscated his gaming controllers and that he acting in an abusive manner towards her when he returned from visits to his father.
According to police, David Katz killed two people in a shooting incident at a Madden 2019 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday.
He had been competing in the tournament but, when he lost a game, he left the venue and returned with a gun. He opened fire on other attendees, killing two and injuring a further ten before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
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He had a history of mental illness, according to court papers, and had been hospitalised in psychiatric institutions on two occasions previously. He was also on medication to control several mental health issues.
His father poured water on the claims that he was psychotic, however. "[David's mother had] an obsession with using mental health professionals and in particular psychiatric drugs to perform the work that parents should naturally do," he wrote in a deposition.
A report has emerged about Katz's character from a previous gaming tournament in which he was introduced with the words 'he's not here to make friends'.
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"You are not going to see much emotion from our guy," said the announcer.
"David Katz keeps to himself. He's a man of business. He's not here for the experience . . . he's not here to make friends.
"He's all business, he's focused, and even to get him to open up to talk to you about anything, it's like pulling teeth."
On Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams informed the Baltimore Sun that no motive had yet been determined.
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Topics: US News