'He Was Shot Twice In The Chest, He Was Right Next To Me': Gaming Commentator Recalls Jacksonville Mass Shooting
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JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami) -- A gunman turned a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida into a scene of real life mayhem on Sunday. When the shooting stopped, three people were dead, and nine others wounded.
Police said the gunman was a participant who lost during the Madden NFL 19 tournament and then returned with a gun and fired shots into the crowd.
Police said David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, killed two people and wounded nine others before shooting himself dead. CBS affiliate WJAX-TV identified the two who died as 22-year-old Eli Clayton and 27-year-old Taylor Robertson.
An online video captured the moment when the shooting began and even shows what appeared to be a red dot flash across one of the players' chests second before the first shots ring out. It is from a livestream of the Madden NFL 19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, which was taking place at The Jacksonville Landing entertainment complex.
The announcer's voice on the video is Toshiba Sharon.
"I thought it was a technical difficulty. After the first shot, after the second shot, I saw the gunman, I zoomed in on the gunman, my attention went there," recalled Sharon to CBS4's Ted Scouten.
Suddenly he realized the gunfire hit just inches away from him.
"I had another gentlemen that was commentating the game with me, sitting on my left hand side, he was commentating with me. He was shot twice in the chest. I just couldn't believe he was shot because he was right next to me," said Sharon.
In the chaos, Toshiba had just seconds to take cover.
"We put the table up as like a barricade, I didn't know whether to lay there and pretend I was dead, but I thought maybe he'd stop shooting and reload, walk the room, so while he's shooting, had the table up and I was looking to see if he was coming my way."
When the gunfire stopped, Toshiba stayed behind with the dead and wounded.
Eli Clayton is from Southern California and Taylor Robertson from West Virginia.
"Taylor was maybe 23,24, he was a kid. But he also was a father, he also was a husband, so you know. This is bigger than a video game," said Sharon.
Toshiba said the shooting happened 10-15 minutes after Katz was eliminated from the competition. He also said there was no security at the competition.
"Normally there is security. There wasn't security at this event. There wasn't security at this event. Normally there is door checks, so it's just sad it wasn't this event, there was no security," he said.
Other players said Katz was well-known on the competitive gaming circuit and was a one-time Madden tournament champion known by his gamer tag "Bread."
Katz lost in Sunday's tournament against Dennis Alston.
"I beat him and I went to shake his hand to tell him good game and he just looked at me and didn't say anything," Alston said.
At least one witness said Katz appeared to have been targeting specific people, though police haven't confirmed that.
EA Sports, which runs the event, says its focus is on those affected and helping law enforcement with its investigation. The gaming giant lists Katz as the winner of one of its 2017 regional competitions.
