Florida Mass Shooting Witness: ‘I’m Not Going to Blame Guns for This’

A gamer at the Jacksonville Madden 19 tournament who witnessed the mass shooting there on Aug. 26 said that he doesn’t blame guns for what happened.

“This is just sad, it shouldn’t happen, it honestly should never happen,” the witness told First Coast News.

“I’m not going to blame guns for this, it’s a person’s actions that got upset. It’s really just unfortunate and absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

Approximately 18 shots could be heard on the live stream from the tournament and officials later confirmed that three people had been killed, including the shooter, David Katz of Baltimore, Maryland.

Eli “Trueboy” Clayton and Taylor “SpotMePlzzz” Robertson were confirmed as the two dead in addition to Katz.

Rest in peace to Eli Clayton @True__818 and Taylor Robertson @spotmeplzzz . Two legends who were taken away from us way before their time. pic.twitter.com/7zccOoGRyt

— Troydan (@Troydan) August 27, 2018

Clayton was seen playing a tournament game in the live stream just before the stream cut away and the shooting started. However, audio was still available and broadcast the shots. According to his EA Sports profile, Clayton was from California. The profile stated, “True is consistently one of the best in competitive Madden.”

Robertson was from West Virginia and won last season’s Madden Classic. He leaves behind a young son.

Officials said 11 other people were shot but survived.

Dalton Kent, 22, shot in the shin during the Jacksonville shooting. His brother says he was looking forward to the madden event for months. Teaches history at Treasure Coast High School and is an assistant varsity basketball coach @WPTV pic.twitter.com/PSCVIuuHtM

— Meghan McRoberts (@MeghanWPTV) August 27, 2018

Several attendees posted on Twitter that they had been shot but were lucky—grateful that they were still alive.

“I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb,” said Drini Gjoka, a 19-year-old gamer. “I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second.”

Dalton Kent, 22, another gamer, was shot in the shin.

Authorities just entered South Baltimore home as part of Jacksonville mass shooting investigation https://t.co/PTbCfomyfz pic.twitter.com/a5PdQDpqyU

— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) August 26, 2018

Shooter

Katz, 22, was identified as the shooter late Saturday.

A number of photos and videos have been circulating on social media websites that appear to show Katz. On Twitter, users said his Madden name was “ravens2012champs” and “Ravenschamp,” apparently in reference to the Baltimore Ravens NFL team.

Stephen “Steveyj” Javaruski, another gamer, told the Los Angeles Times that Katz became upset after losing in the tournament and whipped out a handgun. The shooter “targeted a few people” while shooting at a bevy of others and then killed himself, Javaruski said.

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said that the shooter was dead at the scene and officers in Baltimore, where Katz lived, raided his home.

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From NTD.tv