David Katz
|
David Katz (December 22nd, 1993 - August 26th, 2018) was an American mass shooter and professional gamer who committed the Jacksonville Landing shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, which occurred during the Madden NFL 19 video gaming tournament on August 26th, 2018. He ended up killing 2 people and injuring 11 others before killing himself. Psychologists confirmed that Katz had been suffering from mental illnesses, and was prescribed anti-psychotic medicine to help subdue his homicidal thoughts.
Background edit
Katz was a 24-year-old professional Madden player from Baltimore, Maryland, who had been attending the Jacksonville tournament as a participant. Katz had lost a few rounds in the competition, which prevented him from reaching the finals. Fellow competitors reported that he had been "acting weird" and refused to shake hands with them after losing the competition. His pseudonyms included "Bread","mrslicedbread", "RavensChamp", "ravens2012champ" and "TREXHAVAHARTATAK". He had previously won $10,000 in a 2017 Madden Tournament. Katz had a history of mental illness and was prescribed anti-psychotic medicine. He was diagnosed with dysthymia and oppositional disorder not otherwise specified and had been involuntarily committed to mental hospitals on numerous occasions.
Jacksonville Landing Shooting edit
After Katz had lost a game, he left the tournament, returning with a .9 mm pistol with a laser sight, targeting specific people (presumably one being the person who won against him). After at least one of his intentional targets was killed, he began shooting indiscriminately at other participants and spectators. He shot 12 people in total, but only two of them were fatal. The shooting had only lasted for about 4 minutes before Katz committed suicide. The reported victims were 22-year old Elijah Clayton and 27-year old Taylor Robertson.