ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Suicidal Shooter Murders Family Man and Rising Star

Suicidal Shooter Murders Family Man and Rising Star

Among the victims of the Florida pro-gaming tournament shootings was a married man with a young son

Rachael Grealish

Rachael Grealish

The suicidal shooter who took aim on a pro-gaming tournament destroyed families as he murdered a rising star and a loving family man.

The gunman, named David Katz, 24, killed himself and two others, and left 11 people injured in the shooting at the Jacksonville Landing complex in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday, August 26.

Twitter

Though local authorities haven't confirmed the names of Katz's two fatalities, members of the Madden gaming community, and local press Miami Herald and ActionNewsJax, have named them as Taylor 'SpotMePlzzz' Robertson, 27, of Ballard, West Virginia and Eli 'Trueboy' Clayton, 22, of Woodland Hills, California.

Tributes to the two men have been pouring in on social media.

Taylor Robertson was a loving family man and his death has left his wife a widow and his young son without a father.

Taylor had been successful in the gaming tournament prior to his death - according to EA Sports he won 13 out 18 prior matches in Madden NFL tournaments.

Eli Clayton was said to be a rising star in his community.

Twitch

An official close to the investigation said that the gunman killed himself with the semi-auto handgun used in the shooting, which had a laser sight.

A livestream of the tournament caught the chilling moment that a laser landed on Eli's chest before shots rang out - the camera cut off before.

The horrific shooting took place at 1:34pm (EDT), in Jacksonville, Florida.

During the event, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office took to Twitter to warn people to stay away from the Jacksonville Landing - urging people: 'please don't come running out'. The Landing is a shopping, dining and entertainment complex within the city centre, where the tournament was being held.

Nine of the non-fatal injuries were gunshot wounds and two were sustained while fleeing the chaos, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said.

Katz was from Baltimore, it was said by Sherriff Williams, and had traveled to Jacksonville for the Madden 19 video game tournament.

Katz's car was seized by police near the scene of the shooting.

Around 150 gamers competed in the competition for a $5,000 (£3,893) prize. The winner was set to go on to a final's tournament in Las Vegas with a $125,000 (£97,337) prize.

A witness to the shooting, Javarius Long, told the Tampa Bay Times that the shooter was acting 'nerdy'.

Javarius told them Katz got mad after losing in the elimination round on Sunday, left the venue presumably to retrieve the gun from his car, and came back and started 'blasting everybody'.

Katz is known to have gone by the gamer monikers 'RavensChamp', 'Bread' and 'TREXHAVAHARTATAK'.

EA Sports - the company behind the Madden NFL game series - has released a short statement to say it is aware of the incident and will be working with authorities to 'gather facts' at this stage.

It went on to say: "This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved."

Featured Image Credit: Twitch

Topics: World News, Florida