Mass Shooting In Jacksonville Florida Madden Tournament Captured On Twitch

Police say there were “multiple fatalities” when a mass shooting occurred during a live video game tournament at a mall in Jacksonville, Florida, Sunday afternoon.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office confirmed reports of the shooting as Electronic Arts Sports’s Madden NFL 19 championship series took place at the GLHF Game Bar in the mall. Aired live on Twitch TV, a gaming network, at least 12 shots could be heard during the shooting as players competed in the gaming tournament. The video game abruptly ended moments after the first shots were heard — and the audio of its horrific aftermath continued to stream live.

Police say one suspect, who they described as a white male, was dead at the scene. Authorities confirmed at a press conference Sunday there were no other suspects in the shooting.

The scene at The Landing mall was secure several hours after the shooting after SWAT teams conducted a “methodical search” inside the shopping center. Authorities originally told patrons who were hiding inside to “stay calm.”

Police say there were “multiple fatalities” as a result of the shooting, and “many” were transported to hospitals for further care.

CompLexity Gaming, a professional gaming team sponsoring one of the players in the tournament, tweeted that he was grazed by a bullet. The player Drini Gjoka tweeted that he was “lucky” and that his thumb was hit by a bullet. “Worst day of my life,” Gjoka tweeted Sunday afternoon. “I will never take anything for granted ever again,” he added in a later tweet. “Life can be cut short in a second.”

Authorities said the sole suspect in the shooting was dead on the scene. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police worked to confirm that there weren’t any other suspects.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said in a press conference that authorities were still working to confirm the suspect’s identity.

SOURCE